Our Donkey in last year's production of Shrek was a girl, and it worked fine. The gender didn't matter too much, since she was wearing a shaggy donkey outfit and was heavily made up; what mattered was who was best for the role in terms of comic timing and ability and all that. The range was a slight issue, but we managed to work it out. Normally we have a bunch of boys trying out and performing in our productions, but for many of them 'Shrek' was kind of a turn off. That said, even if more boys had tried out, I am super satisfied with how our casting worked out. Kept all the pronouns, and people are familiar enough with the story to look past the fact that the performer playing Donkey is a girl...
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Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
Ruskin FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2017 10:11
From: Megan D'Orvilliers
Subject: Shrek Donkey as a girl?
Yep! Just cast the show with a female playing the role of Donkey. We were not specifically seeking a female to play Donkey, but were always open to the idea. The girl cast was selected because she was the candidate best equipped to handle the demands of the role (ie: comedic timing, humorous physical and facial expression, vocal delivery). It is working out swimmingly!