Vanessa Van Durme was born in Belgium in 1948 as a male.

Vanessa had always known she was different. As a child, she had no interest in cars or other typical boyhood fascinations. She went on to study dramatic arts at the Conservatory in Ghent and upon graduation secured a much-envied place with the theatre company Nederlands Toneel Gent.

With such a promising start to her career, Vanessa should have been content and yet she was suffering, profoundly. In 1975, after years of confusion and experimentation, she made the difficult decision to undergo a sex change. These days a sex change operation, though a sensitive issue, is not uncommon. In 1975, however, it was a medical procedure in its infancy and a highly controversial one at that. Vanessa became the first Belgian transsexual at a time when most people were openly prejudiced. Faced with unimaginable intolerance, Vanessa realised that the struggle had really only just begun.

In Look Mummy, I’m Dancing Vanessa talks frankly about the long road she had to take to finally become herself: her sex change, the dark years that followed it, her return to theatre and her ongoing campaign to fight public prejudices. Tempered by Vanessa’s charm and robust sense of humour, this bravura performance is neither bleak nor preachy, but utterly engrossing and endlessly fascinating.

Look Mummy, I’m Dancing is a courageous and deeply moving story of one woman’s quest to find her real identity and her refusal to give up.

WARNING:
Strong language

Late Comers Policy:
Please be advised there is a complete lockout for this production and late-comers will not be admitted after the show has commenced.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE HOUSE PROGRAM
LookMummyImDancing.pdf ( pdf file, 873kb)