Madness it seems has taken its toll

Matthew Roderick

Opinion

by Matthew Roderick

It’s astounding! Time is but fleeting and madness it seems has taken its toll. Such a mind flip, we seem caught in a time slip . . . .

There has been mention in The Herald that “drag” entertainment does not belong in libraries nor within any reach of children.

How bizarre? Has anyone thought any less of pantomime? I suspect the people admonishing the library show would be quite happy to take their tamariki or mokopuna to such — where it is traditional that the main joke of the whole play is a man dressed as a woman. Or to a Punch and Judy show — where the whole idea is based on Commedia’del ’Arte, which is full of men and women in mirror gender costume as part of the joke.

ALL of the women in Shakespearean and earlier plays, were played by men. They all dressed “crossed gendered”. This even goes back to the “Dark” Ages and into antiquity with Greek theatre where only men played the parts within the play that was essentially a religious event, as women were all excluded. So “female” roles were played by men.

Are times somehow different today? There are so many forefathers/parents of theatre in Gisborne/Aotearoa who would disagree no end.

Many a time have men played drag queens within the city of Gisborne. Many a time has a role, onstage, in a theatre, in Gisborne, in a production intended for the entertainment of children, been played by a man pretending to be a woman . . . in normal cases to be a joke. To carry a laugh. To further the story. To tell the story.

One might think of a show such as Chicago where, one time in the history of Gisborne theatre, the role of Mary Sunshine was played by a male — as written. The whole joke/story of the reasoning behind that is to tell a deeper story I simply do not have the opportunity to describe here.

So do not say drag entertainment is only for adults. If that were the case then all theatre, TV, movies, art could be defined as only for adults.

Drag Queens reading a story for children in a library are not going to distribute any sort of propaganda. They are going there to tell stories. To bring children into the library. To share the stories that people have written for centuries. Do not try to stop that because of your bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

I remember performing plays in the library as a young child. Sure, we weren’t dressed in drag all of the time; I played Jack’s mum and several other “female” characters other times, but everyone enjoyed it, had a laugh and got on with their day.

So to suggest that the only reason someone would dress in drag would be for propaganda or some kind of grooming is quite frankly very bizarre — and probably an unsuccessful way of finding someone for an illicit act.

Anyone who thinks that IS strange and needs to go and find some help.

■  The photo is of Matthew as Mary Sunshine in a Tauranga production of Chicago