Cissie and Ada, in full Cissie Braithwaite and Ada Shufflebotham (or Sidebottom),Ada's surname is recorded both as Sidebottom and as Shufflebotham in various sources. ''The Guardian'' records it as Shufflebotham in "The Guide: Hard as Males" (9 August 2008, p. 8) as does ''The Daily Mirror'' in "Football: It's Time for Liverpool and Chelsea to ... Show Some Dignity" (20 April 2008, p. 55). However, ''The Independent'', in "The Ten Best Drag Acts" (27 June 2006, p. 24) uses Sidebottom. are a comedy

drag act Drag is a performance of exaggerated femininity, masculinity, or other forms of gender expression, usually for entertainment purposes. Drag usually involves cross-dressing. A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininely and a drag ...

featuring two fictional housewives from

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

(or, more specifically,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

). The act was created and played by the comedian

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and pianist. He was known for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona, musical routines, and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early li ...

and the comic actor

Roy Barraclough Roy Senior Barraclough (12 July 1935 – 1 June 2017) was an English comic actor. He was best known for his role as Alec Gilroy, the devious, mournful landlord of the Rovers Return in the long-running British TV soap ''Coronation Street'', an ...

on television in the 1970s and 1980s.

Act

Cissie and Ada sketches featured the two women gossiping. Their comedic mannerisms included stoical pursing of lips and constantly heaved bosoms. Cissie and Ada became a hit with the British public.

History

Dawson explained that this mouthing of words (or " mee-mawing") was a habit of Lancashire millworkers trying to communicate by

lip reading Lip reading, also known as speechreading, is a technique of understanding a limited range of speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face and tongue without sound. Estimates of the range of lip reading vary, with some figures as ...

over the tremendous racket of the looms. Millworkers then resorted to this practice in daily life to discuss delicate subjects. The pair created the characters in rehearsals, in homage to the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

star Norman Evans, who appeared in drag a 1950 film, ''

Over the Garden Wall ''Over the Garden Wall'' is an American animated dark fantasy television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel through a mysterious forest to find their way home, encount ...

'', playing the lead character, Fanny Lawton. They were persuaded by the producer to use them in sketches in the show '' Sez Les''. Although Dawson needed persuading to don drag, and Barraclough was nervous that he would not be able to match Dawson's talent for ad-libbing, the characters became permanent features of the show. Barraclough recalled that his characterisation of Cissie "was drawn from an aunt of mine who always thought she was slightly above the rest of the family, Auntie Annie. You know, she would always have a sherry. And the rest of the family always took the piss out of her."Andrew Billen. "Race to Get Laid, and Then You Die". ''The Guardian'', 22 May 1994. Key to Dawson's portrayal of Ada was a handbag "tightly clutched to the waist in a manner suggesting infinite disapproval". The characters were revisited by the pair in a series of commercials for fresh cream cakes in 1984. They were portrayed in animation (voiced by Dawson and Barraclough) in television advertisements for the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

in the early 1990s.

Stage show

A new play written by Graham Warrener, (incorporating Cissie and Ada original sketches from Dawson's BBC days, written by Terry Ravenscroft), and directed by JJ (John-Jackson) Almond, ''Cissie And Ada: An Hysterical Rectomy'', began a UK tour at the

Grand Theatre, Blackpool Blackpool Grand Theatre is a theatre in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. Since 2006, it has also been known as the National Theatre of Variety. It is a Grade II* Listed Building. History The Grand was designed by Victorian theatre architect F ...

on 15 July 2013, in

's hometown. The show starred

Eric Potts Eric Potts (born 13 September 1965) is a Scottish actor, writer and director, who appeared in ''Coronation Street'' as the eccentric baker Diggory Compton after playing four smaller parts, the father of Molly Compton, and ''Brookside'' as Wre ...

as Ada/Les, Steve Nallon as Cissie/Roy,

Steven Arnold Steven Arnold (born 12 December 1974) is an English actor best known for his role as butcher Ashley Peacock in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life He was educated at Sir Thomas Boteler in Warrington, where his drama teach ...

as the writer and Natasha Magigi as the dresser.

Critical reception

In 2006, Sir

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

, writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', named them the tenth best drag act ever created, commenting that they "were as real as the crones in the Rover's Return".Ian McKellen. "The Ten Best Drag Acts". ''The Independent'', 27 June 2006. p. 24.

Act

History

Stage show

Critical reception

Notes

References

See also