Interviews

Playing Dame – Dennis Herdman (Mother Goose, Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal)

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17 December 2010

Mother Goose is the only pantomime in which the Dame is the protagonist. How does this affect the characterisation?

For me it’s meant I have needed to go on quite a surprising emotional journey. I’m not just there to provide comic relief, I’m involved pretty much every step of the way, and the audience need to both sympathise and lose patience with me. Having said that, the pantomimes in Bury St Edmunds always properly integrate the characters into the story, so no-one would ever be just tagged onto the action.

The Dame is usually a cuddly, well-meaning person. Is this true of Mother Goose?
It’s certainly true of her at heart – though it’s fair to say that in this version, she is also vain, avaricious and insulting!

How do you think the Dame role has changed recently, if at all?
I wouldn’t pretend to know my Dame history enough! I suppose you might say that I’m fairly unconventional-looking as a Dame, and perhaps there may be more of us unconventional types than there used to be…? There are people out there who will define exactly the role a Dame “should” undertake. I’m not one of them.

Does the trend towards having the Principal Boy role played by a man rather than a woman affect the way the Dame is played?
My experience as Dame has only been with male principal boys so I’m not sure…I suspect it doesn’t particularly, you would still have licence to mock them, boy or girl!

Which pantomime story has the best Dame role?
I’d reckon Mother Goose or Jack and the Beanstalk, though lots of people would say it’s Aladdin‘s Widow Twankey

Which would you rather play – Dame or the villain?
There is enormous fun to be had with both…but there is nothing like a Dame!