At first glance, you might think you'd misread the title of author Derek Sculthorpe's latest, Malcolm Scott: The Woman Who Knows (BearManor Media). Delving once again into British entertainment history of the late 19th and early 20th century, Sculthorpe offers what he describes as a "portrait of a unique music hall artiste."
In his day, Malcolm Scott was a highly successful female impersonator, who specialized in comic renditions featuring well-known personalities such as Katherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife. Developing his own unique and acclaimed style, Scott influenced a host of performers who followed him; the author sees a certain kinship with Barry Humphries' Dame Edna. Though there is very little of Scott's work that can be seen or heard today, Sculthorpe is nonetheless successful in giving us a feel for the flavor of his comedy. He also manages to portray Scott the man and his private life, reporting the facts he skillfully uncovered but occasionally allowing us to intuit a bit more than can be definitively stated. The book offers an exhaustively researched list of professional credits.
Some readers and biographers firmly believe that a worthy book cannot be written about someone who has been dead for many years, with no survivors who can contribute to the work. Here, as in his previous writings about music hall artists, Derek Sculthorpe triumphantly proves them wrong, and in doing so makes a strong contribution to performance history that deserves to be preserved.
NOTE: I was furnished with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
