When Jodie Whittaker was announced as the 13th Doctor in the BBC's long-running series Doctor Who, the news sent shockwaves through the entertainment world.

The actress, known for her work in Broadchurch and Attack the Block, will be the first woman in 54 years to play The Doctor, and some have questioned how a woman will be received in a traditionally-male role.

Sarah Dodd wondered the same thing when she was cast as the doctor — Doctor Livesy, that is — in Stratford Festival's production of Treasure Island.

"It was something that kept me up at night when I first got the part," she told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. "I didn't want people to think about it. I wanted them to just to go: 'OK, she's a woman.'"

The festival's costuming department put together a smart, military-inspired outfit that neither plays up nor down the character's femininity.

Sarah Dodd (left) as Doctor Livesey alongside fellow cast members in Treasure Island. (Cylla von Tiedemann)

Limited roles for women

For Dodd, who in her 40s, the chance to play Doctor Livesy was a refreshing break: she often finds herself typecast as a mom in productions.

A lot of the parts I go out for have some sort of romantic love interest - Katelyn McCulloch, Ben Gunn in Treasure Island

She says she's played about 30 of them by now.

"It started for me in my 30s, especially in Toronto. I've taken it upon myself, when I get cast in those parts, I go: 'Okay. You want a mom? I am a mom and it's going to be a real mom and it's not going to be everything's rosy.'"

And if getting typecast as a mom is the fate of a female performer in her 40s, the equivalent character for 27-year-old Katelyn McCulloch is wide-eyed ingenue.

"Whether it be theatre or TV/film, a lot of the parts I go out for have some sort of romantic love interest," said McCulloch who plays Ben (or Bennett) Gunn in Treasure Island.

"That's why Ben Gunn was so refreshing. She doesn't talk about a man once!"

Suspension of disbelief

The festival has been trying on the idea of women taking on traditionally male roles for the past couple of seasons.

Mikaela Davies, who stars in The Changling this year, had her professional Shakespearean debut in Breath of Kings in the festival's 2016 season. Six of the 14 parts she played were male.

"I was immediately hit with all kind of insecurities. This wasn't a high school production. I couldn't just put on a moustache and hope for the best," she wrote in an article for Intermission Magazine last September.

Anusree Roy as Snake in The School for Scandal. Snake, a sly and evil character true to his name, is typically played by a man. (Cylla von Tiedemann/Stratford Festival) But "put on a moustache and hope for the best," is exactly what Anusree Roy used to do before she emigrated to Canada from India at 17. She plays Snake in The School for Scandal — another role that is almost always played by a man.

"It was never a big deal to play a male role back home," said Roy. "You can be in a sari, put on a moustache and you're a man. You just believe it to be so, as much as you would believe you're in a desert even though you're in a busy city."

"So up until I was 17 years old I truly didn't believe it to be such a big deal," said Roy. "It's only since I've moved to this country that I was told it was."

All four say they're encouraged by the opportunities opened up by Stratford Festival's gender-neutral casting but ultimately say real change will only happen when more women are in charge behind the scenes.

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