It’s a role coveted by actors and enjoyed by audiences of all ages every Christmas, but playing a dame is harder than it looks. We speak to this year’s panto stars about donning big dresses and bad make-up and pushing their bodies to the limit on stage
Maclean Burke and Al Porter at the Olympia Theatre. Photo: Mark Condren
In panto, playing the part of the dame – be it the Cook in Dick Whittington, Widow Twankey or Mother Goose – is like nabbing the role of Hamlet. A prestige role that doesn’t get bigger or better.
Men masquerading as a matronly dame became common practice after HJ Byron created the character of Widow Twankey in Aladdin in 1861, and since then, they have been a defining part of panto – carrying the narrative and storyline along at a breakneck pace.