Tracy-Ann Oberman looks back: ‘I’m thinking, What’s this? I want to be a princess!’ theguardian com

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Tracy-Ann Oberman looks back: ‘I’m thinking, What’s
this? I want to be a princess!’
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/25/tracy-ann-oberman-looks-back
Born in north-west London in 1966, Tracy-Ann Oberman is an actor and writer. Her early
career was spent with the Royal Shakespeare Company before starring in comedy and
drama series such as Big Train, Doctor Who, EastEnders, Toast of London, Friday Night
Dinner and It’s a Sin. Oberman, a vocal campaigner against antisemitism, performs as
Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (1936) from 27 February until 25 March in Watford
and Manchester, a role inspired by the life of her great-grandmother, a Jewish woman
who stood on the frontline against the fascists at the Battle of Cable Street. Oberman
lives with her husband and daughter in London.
This is me aged two and a half, on our annual summer holiday in Bournemouth.
We’d go with a whole load of families from our local area in Kenton, and there was a
fancy-dress party in the hotel that day. My mum had forgotten to pack me anything to
wear, so I had to put on my friend Antony’s cowboy outfit. I’m doing a polite smile but I
was really pissed off and thinking: “What the hell is this? I just wanted to be a princess!”
Now I love the costume, because it’s unusual to see a little girl as a cowboy; it looks like
an emblem of my early doors feminism. I also see total innocence – even if I was
disappointed about those clothes, I hadn’t yet experienced how mercurial life could be.
There were two parts to my childhood. I started out as this precious, gregarious girl, so
confident at school and beloved by all. After that, I became a sad child: when I was four, I
lost my grandparents – my dad’s parents – both of whom I was very close to, as well as
my great-aunt. It all happened within a year. I remember feeling this feeling, this hole.

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When my dad told me my grandma had died, I experienced a whoosh like a wind tunnel. I
couldn’t quite compute it. My brain changed. I lost myself in books. I found social
interaction overwhelming. It made me feel very alone.