The exact identity of the redhead at the centre of Lady is hard to pin down. Is she
a woman playing a man playing a woman, or more specifically, a lesbian playing a gay
man playing a heterosexual woman? The juxtaposition of various cinematic styles in
the film, from quasi 70s verite to home movies to a more distanced black and white,
adds to the sense of a character continually redefining herself. This purposeful ambiguity
- who is the lady in the red wig? - invites the audience to question the very parameters
of sexuality, desire, and what it means to be a woman.
Performing gender actor/writer Dominique Dibbell plays a range of received stereotypes
of femininity from bruised victim of emotional neglect to penis envy, deconstructing
the Lady of the title, in a disturbing series of sheddings and re-camouflaging in
which her gender identity and sexuality transmute before your eyes.
“The Second International Transgender Film & Video Festival Program.” London: Alchemy
Festival Productions, 1998. Personal Archives.
