The Fabulous History of Drag

Drag began out of necessity, although that’s not to say its participants didn’t enjoy it. When Shakespearean theatre was shiny and new in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the stage wasn’t just a place of entertainment. It had strong links to the church and with that came rules that only men could tread the boards. If that play you were in featured a few female roles, then it was up to a couple of the men in the cast to dress as members of the opposite sex so the story didn’t suffer. After the Second World War, although homosexuality was still frowned upon by society as a whole - even illegal in some cases - there were still drag acts who broke through the negativity and had successful careers. These including Danny La Rue in the UK, who made his name in the 1950s, and Dame Edna Everage, the flamboyant creation of comedian Barry Humphries, who first appeared in the 1960s. In other words the history of drag is fun and interesting. The more you look the more you know.