CULTURE | ENTERTAINMENT | PROVOCATION
“People Couldn’t Hit You If They Were Laughing.” — Barry Humphries, 1934–2023.
Long live Edna, R.I.P. Barry Humphries!
My first encounter with Dame Edna was in mid-80s in London when I entered Madame Tussaud’s as a wide-eyed young man to see the famous wax figures.
The only thing from Tussaud’s I remember was this enormously sparkling person, Dame Edna. She wore a dress made of sequins glittering in the colours of Union Jack. I didn’t know what to make of it.
Then in my hotel room the same day in the evening, I saw a TV show where this same lady was performing, and I was sold. It was an experience indeed, Dame Edna Experience.
Dame Edna played my strings with fury and flurry. Her witty, waspy and profoundly provocative outrageousness was like milk and honey to a young Finnish theatre director who had started to doubt the seriousness of life. I realised that she was the genuine cock in a frock. Edna was the epitome of embracing what is marginal but within the majority’s mind (however much they try to hide it).
Edna gave me an excuse and permission to show the ridiculousness of the stiff upper lip — and lift it to laughter. How I loved it, and thank heavens for TV, I could enjoy…
