INTERVIEW

THERE’S NOTHING like a dame!

LindaStopforth(left) withDameEdna.

Australian drag queen, the inimitable Dame Edna Everage is accustomed to dominating the stage and seeing her name in lights so it’s likely she would be most surprised if told she’d been spotted peeping over the fence of a Beachlands home in New Zealand.

While the lilac-haired dame with the rhinestone glasses, might wave it off as ‘fake news’ perhaps she would be intrigued to learn there is an outrageous look-alike turning the heads of passersby who walk the seaside suburb.

The impersonator is in fact a plaster bust owned by Linda Stopforth and it started life some 30 years ago as a “granny who was content to age gracefully”.

“She was a gift from my daughter, bought from a garden centre in Tauranga. She seldom budged from her former fence until we moved to Beachlands a couple of years ago,” Linda says.

“It was then I decided granny needed a wash to remove gathering moss before she was relocated to the new property. Unfortunately, gran’s face fell off! I was devastated. She had gone the distance for so long I never envisaged her passing.”

But never fear; it was friend, gossip columnist and makeup artist extraordinaire, David Hartnell to the rescue.

“David’s really quite artistic; he promised to fix her and off he went.”

Several weeks and a lot of secrecy later came the ‘gran’ unveiling’ – shock horror, the little old lady of the past was reincarnated as the dazzling Dave Edna complete with purple hair, skilfully fashioned from nylon shower cleaners, long red fingernails and, of course, ostentatious, bejewelled spectacles. “Although my daughter was a bit taken back, I thought she was fabulous,” Linda says. “It took no time to find Dame Edna the perfect platform, peering over the garden fence, where everyone could see her. Subsequently, she has attracted a lot of attention, as any dame would, of course!”

And, while audiences may be a tad smaller than those for the real Dame Edna Everage, nevertheless, the Beachlands’ imposter is raising smiles and thrilling visitors with her ornate style.

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