Years active
1825 – 1859
Stage Name(s)
Mary Anne Keeley
Category
Breeches role, Male Impersonator
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1805 – 1899
Bio
Mary Anne Keeley, well respected British actress, was best known for her portrayal of Jack Sheppard, London’s notorious short-lived thief and jail breaker who died in 1724 at the […]
Years active
1815 – 1854
Stage Name(s)
Madame Vestris
Category
Breeches role, En travesti
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1797 – 1856
Bio
In 1815, Madame Vestris began her stage career in the Italian opera II ratto di Proserpina by Peter Winter at the King’s Theatre. In 1820, she played her first breeches […]
Years active
1690 – 1705
Stage Name(s)
Mademoiselle de Maupin, La Maupin
Category
Breeches Roles
Country of Origin
France
Birth – Death
1673 – 1707
Bio
Mademoiselle de Maupin was born Julie D’Aubigny around the year 1673 in Paris, France. Despite living a mere 33 years, her life was filled with adventure, intrigue, danger and torrid […]
Years active
1685-1723
Stage Name(s)
Susanna Centlivre
Category
Breeches Roles
Country of Origin
United Kingdom, England
Day Birth – Day Death
c. 1669 – 1723
Bio
Susanna Centlivre was an actress, poet, and playwright. She was widely considered one of the most influential female playwrights of the eighteenth century. Several of her plays remained popular well […]
Years active
1681-1703
Stage Name(s)
Susanna Percival, Susanna Mountfort, Susanna Verbruggen
Category
Breeches Roles
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1667–1703
Bio
Susanna Verbruggen was a successful and popular actress especially known for playing breeches roles during the English Restoration. Her acclaim was playing a stock character, the Restoration rake, which was a womanising […]
Years active
1679 – 1709
Stage Name(s)
Anne Bracegirdle
Category
Breeches Roles
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Birth – Death
1673 – 1748
Bio
In 1679, Anne Bracegirdle began her acting career at the age of six playing the role of page boy in Mustapha, and in 1680, she again played the role of the page […]
Years active
1279-1368 A.D. Yuan Dynasty
Stage Name(s)
Lao Sheng (old man), Xiao Sheng (young man), Wu Sheng (warrior)
Category
Male Impersonators
Country of Origin
China
Birth – Death
N/A
Bio
The Yuan Dynasty (1279–1369 A. D.) was a prolific era for female performers in the Chinese Opera. Fortunately for us, fourteenth century theatre enthusiast, Xia […]
Years active
960-1279 A.D. Song Dynasty
Category
Male Impersonators
Country of Origin
China
Birth – Death
NA
Bio
Through paintings and poetry from the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) we can confirm that women played prominent roles in Chinese Opera whether as performers or musicians. Figure 4.5 is an illustration of female performers from the […]
Years active
618-907 A.D. Tang Dynasty
Stage Name(s)
Lao Sheng (old man), Xiao Sheng (young man), Wu Sheng (warrior)
Category
Male Impersonators
Country of Origin
China
Birth – Death
N/A
Bio
With great acclaim, we begin Drag King History with the first known presentation of male impersonation which occurred during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Chinese […]