A buttoned-down physician whose scientific research transforms him into a libertine. A Swiss tourist traveling incognito, disguised as a student of Eastern theology. A German youth who undergoes surgery in order to legally marry his gay lover. A middle-aged Italian matron delighted to be your hostess. What this varied assortment of individuals have in common is that they are appearing onstage in Chicago this spring, and that they all involve the cross-gender turns more popularly known as "drag acts."
Even And Odd Theatricals' premiere production of Mrs. Hyde ( pictured ) and the Case of the Gaslight Buggerings presents us with Dr. Henry Jekyll, whose inquiries—not into the nature of good and evil, as in the venerable novella by Robert Louis Stevenson—but into the very boundaries of male and female sensibilities, leads him to experiment on himself, to the dismay of his best friend, his fiancée, his valet and his cat. Duane Scott Cerny's ribald comedy features unlikely names ( a Miss Emily Enema "of the Cornhole-on-Sussex Enemas" ) , bawdy double entendres ( as when Jekyll commends his students "You seem to have a good grasp on your organs" ) and irreverent anachronisms ( a fatal elixir that "tastes like a Shirley Temple" ) recalling the pioneering mid-20th-century farces of Charles Ludlam.
"Ludlam's plays were essentially vehicles for himself and his own theatre," Cerny noted, "But Mrs. Hyde is an ensemble piece about the duality of the sexes. Each character has his/her own agenda of unfulfilled dreams ... the conflict of Jekyll-and-Hyde has always been black versus white, good versus evil. But life is about that shaky ground in the middle. Nowadays, it's almost become too easy to change one's sex, but only when he is "Mrs. Hyde" can Jekyll, as a heterosexual man of his day, connect with his sensual/sexual self—and challenge the others in his life to examine their own orientation. I wanted to spoof—but at the same time, debunk—the assumptions behind Jekyll's society."
Isabelle Eberhardt, the heroine of Timberlake Wertenbaker's New Anatomies, was an actual historical figure, a radical academic's daughter who sought refuge from the repressive European society at the turn of the 19th century through excursions in French-occupied Algeria, traveling under the alias of Si Mahmoud, a rebellious youth who cursed, spit, smoked kif and engaged in copious man-boy sex. But Elizabeth Schwan-Rosenwald, artistic director of the 20% Theatre Company, disputed Eberhardt's transvestism as a purely sexual issue.
" [ Isabelle's ] decision to dress as a man was based in her desire to explore a world that required her to be someone else—specifically, a male someone else," Schwan-Rosenwald said. "The rigidity of a gender-segregated society, ironically, would have made it simpler to 'pass'—incredibly dangerous if you were caught, but in a culture designed to accept a person's word as truth, only a flagrant offense would force people to see what they don't want to see. Isabelle and Si Mahmoud both existed within the same woman. Her men's clothes weren't a disguise, so much as the embodiment of her personality when wearing them."
Man-to-woman or woman-to-man role transference is easy to understand, but Hansel, the title character in Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig And The Angry Inch, is stranded somewhere between, thanks to a clumsily-executed sex-change operation that leaves him with the reproductive equipment of a Barbie—or is it Ken?—doll. The effects of this freakish physiognomy on the psychological orientation of its owner comprises the theme of the 1998 rock-and-roll musical.
"The most wonderful aspect of this story is its honesty," insists American Theatre Company director P.J. Paparelli, "Ten years ago, Hedwig took the audience through a tremendous journey. But attitudes regarding acceptance or understanding—or even curiosity—of gay, lesbian or trans people have made us a fearful nation since then. That's why I wanted to do this show now, as our country begins to turn the page and once again embrace our diversity."
Americans old enough to recall the furor over women wearing trousers with fly-fronts or men growing their hair long can testify to gender-equality advancements in our culture. So why hasn't cross-dressing as a dramatic device gone the way of minstrel shows and other motifs based in strict segregation of social factions? What is the enduring appeal of drag?
"I think our society still clings strongly to its views of how men and women should behave," said Schwan-Rosenwald, "But I believe that the drag show has remained a part of our culture because there continues to be an attraction to the excitement and fun of becoming something you are not, if only for a moment."
Cerny agreed: "Cross-dressing allows you to walk in another person's high heels—to be someone else for an evening or two," while Paparelli added, "Anyone can put on a dress and get a laugh, but drag also deals with truth and intelligence, as well as entertainment."
"People are drawn to illusion," said Dale Calandra, creator of the persona known as Lola Cabana ( "America's Favorite Aunt" ) and an alumnus of Hairspray, playing the role of Edna Turnblad, "So often, 'drag' is equated solely with bar drag, but can't all actors be said to take on drag, whatever their task onstage? When the illusion is believable, and the character is based in their own inner truth, people will always cheer."
