Transvestia
young man replace the girl with the leading part, The director explained the whole thing to them. Some laughed at it, thinking it was a joke, others said it would never work for I did not look like a girl at all. He said to them that if they wanted to give the play, they had at least to give me a chance to rehearse with them and see what I could
do.
We started to rehearse and as I had my part still fresh in my mind, I could concentrate on my acting and tried to give a good performance. While the play was going on, their opinion changed. They found I knew my part very well and that I was play- ing it very naturally. At the end, they were sat- isfied the way I was doing and asked me to stay with them and permit them to give the play on the next evening. The director said there would be another rehearsal after supper.
The only complaint came from the young man playing the leading man. He said:"I have nothing against a boy playing the leading girl's part, but I loose all my composure when I declare my love to a boy and hold him in my arms. The least you could do is to dress him as a girl so I will be able to feel more natural." The director said he was right and that that would be settled before next rehearsal.
He took me to his home for supper where I met his wife and his daughter. They were thrilled by the way he had resolved his problem by replacing the girl by a boy, in the play. He told them about the remark made by the actor with the leading male part, they laughed at it and said he was right want- ing me to be dressed as a girl. They said: "We will look after that matter right after supper." They asked me to talk about the parts I had in our college plays and the way I was dressed for those occasions. I had to describe in all detail the costumes I had worn. They wanted to know what tricks I used to achieve a good-looking woman's breast. I explained
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