Auditions for the Hasty Pudding Club's 146th annual production took an unusual turn yesterday when a woman, Winsome S. Brown '95, tried out for a part in the traditionally all-male drag comedy.

The Hasty Pudding has never had a woman in the cast, although many women belong to the business and technical crews that comprise the company.

Brown said her desire to be involved in the show dates back to her first year at Harvard.

"Two years ago, I was new and I didn't know that the show was all male. I went in and they told me that I couldn't play a part," she said.

This year, however, Brown tried a different strategy. On the audition sign-up sheet, she entered the alias "Nicholas Pettybone," instead of her real name.

"I did it to avoid being told 'no' before I got my foot in the door," she said.

According to Hasty Pudding cast Vice President Skip C. Sneeringer '94, women are not prohibited from auditioning.

"They can try out, but it is in the charter that they cannot be members of the cast," he said.

Prior to her audition, Brown had a conference with the producers of the show to discuss the issue of females in the cast.

"[The producers] took me aside and asked me if I knew that the show was written for and performed by men," Brown said. "I told them that I knew, but they were very kind and let me audition nevertheless."

This year's show, "A Forum Affair!," is set in ancient Rome and Egypt. Following in the tradition of the Pudding theatricals, male actors will play both male and female roles.

Brown said she hopes to play a male role in the produc- tion. "Drag comedy is just as funny if womendress up as men," she said.

Just A Part of The Theather

Hasty Pudding President Jeremy S. Nye '94 saidthe exclusion of females from certain casts isjust a part of the theater.

"Every play has character restraints and needscertain people to fill the roles," he said. "Thetype of drag comedy that has evolved at thePudding just requires an all male cast."

The Hasty Pudding show begins in late Februaryand is staged seven times a week. The company thentours New York and Bermuda over spring break