Andrew Warner’s portrayal of a trans woman in Priscilla Queen of The Desert earns him Best Actor at The Guide Awards

Andrew Warner was reluctant to take the part of Bernadette in Priscilla, Queen of The Desert in Portsmouth Players’ production of it at The Kings, but now he’s glad he did as it earned him the Best Actor gong.
By Chris Broom
Published 1st Feb 2019, 15:48 BST
Updated 7th Feb 2019, 20:30 BST
Andrew Warner with his Guide Award for Best Amateur Actor. Picture: Habibur RahmanAndrew Warner with his Guide Award for Best Amateur Actor. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Andrew Warner with his Guide Award for Best Amateur Actor. Picture: Habibur Rahman

The part of the recently bereaved trans woman was one it took Andrew a bit of convincing to go for.

‘I was very lucky because my best mate Jack Edwards (the Player’s production manager) is the one who pushed me into it. I went for Tick to begin with, and my wife was adamant we were going to do it, but I’d never even seen it before.

Now I’ve been in it, I understand how amazing it is.

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‘When I got asked in to do Bernadette, I thought, “I’m not doing, I’m not doing it”. And I had a little bit of shove to say suck it up and get on with it, and I’m very glad I did, because it’s probably the biggest journey – that sounds trite, doesn’t it? But it was the biggest journey I’ve ever had in theatre, and it’s probably the best part I’ll ever play. The whole show was magnificent - what an experience.

And he was stunned to win.

The nomination alone was awesome, that genuinely means everything. I thought that was crazy enough.

‘The shows people put on around here are incredible, I feel we’re very lucky. But for people to vote for me out of all of those, it’s crazy, it doesn’t feel real.’

Tony Johnson was runner-up.?????? for his portrayal of The Childcatcher in Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang by CCADS.