Drag: A British History

Historian Bloomfield’s illuminating debut chronicles the history of male drag performance in British popular culture from 1870 to 1970. Drawing from popular pantomime shows, theater productions, and films, Bloomfield seeks to uncover drag’s varied meanings in the British popular imagination and its development as a queer art form. He explores British servicemen’s drag revues, particularly the troupe Les Rouges et Noirs’ debut production Splinters, which originated at frontline concert parties for troops during WWI and moved on to the British variety circuit. Bloomfield also examines Dan Leno’s Mother Goose productions of the mid-1880s through 1904 and Arthur Lucan’s Old Mother Riley films of the 1930s through the ’50s, which imbue the “dame” character, a holdover from the Shakesperean era that had come to be played mostly for slapstick laughs, with social critique and moving pathos. Throughout, Bloomfield probes the diverse responses to these performances by mass audiences, theater critics, and the Lord Chamberlain’s office, which was responsible for censoring British theater. In detailed and nuanced prose, he proves that female impersonation has long been present and celebrated in British popular culture. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in the history of drag performance. (Aug.)