From ancient Greek actors to all-male Elizabethan casts to the drag
queens of today, cross-dressing performers have been around for nearly
as long as live performance itself. In It's a Drag, Janet Tennant
provides a fascinating and colorful look at performing artists who adopt
the characters and dress of others. With a particular focus on
theatrical history in Britain and North America, Tennant also turns to
modern performers like RuPaul, Mj Rodriquez, David Bowie, and Billy
Porter. She surveys the many reasons that performers have cross-dressed
over the years, whether to tell stories, to amuse audiences, to create
distinctive alter egos, to call attention to social and political
issues--or merely for reasons of expediency. In addition to its
memorable portraits of Shakespearean boy actors, pantomime dames, and
other cross-dressing performers across history, It's a Drag takes stock
of the present and considers the future of the practice: How will the
drive toward equality affect the use of cross-dressing and cross-gender
role casting? Will gender-blind roles become as prevalent as color-blind
casting? And will cross-dressing continue to amuse and impress
audiences, or can we imagine a time when gender differences will cease
to be important?
