Pantomime (informally,
panto) (not to be confused with a mime artist, referring to a theatrical performer
of mime) is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally
found in the United
Kingdom
, Canada
, Jamaica
, Australia, South
Africa, Japan
, Ireland
, Gibraltar
and Malta
, and is
mostly performed during the Christmas and New Year
season.
History
A
pantomimos in Greece was originally a group who
'imitated all' (
panto- - all,
mimos - mimic)
accompanied by sung narrative and instrumental music, often played
on the
flute. The word later came to be
applied to the performance itself. The pantomime was a popular form
of entertainment in ancient Greece and, later, Rome. Like theatre,
it encompassed the genres of
comedy and
tragedy. No ancient pantomime
libretto has survived, partly because the genre was
looked down upon by the literary elite. Nonetheless, notable
ancient poets such as
Lucan
wrote for the pantomime, no doubt in part because the work was well
paid. In a speech of the late 1st century AD now lost, the orator
Aelius Aristides condemned the
pantomime for its erotic content and the 'effeminacy' of its
dancing.
The style and content of modern pantomime have very clear and
strong links with the
Commedia
dell'arte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the
Early Modern Period, and which
reached England by the 16th century. A 'comedy of professional
artists' travelling from province to province in Italy and then
France, they improvised and told stories which told lessons to the
crowd and changed the main character depending on where they were
performing. The great clown
Grimaldi
transformed the format. Each story had the same fixed characters:
the lovers, father, servants (one being crafty and the other
stupid), etc. These roles/characters can be found in today's
pantomimes.
The
gender role reversal resembles the
old festival of
Twelfth
Night, a combination of
Epiphany and midwinter feast, when it was
customary for the natural order of things to be reversed. This
tradition can be traced back to pre-Christian European festivals
such as
Samhain and
Saturnalia.
Development as a distinctly English entertainment
The pantomime first arrived in England as
entr'actes between opera pieces, eventually
evolving into separate shows.
up in hell
In
Restoration England, a pantomime
was considered a low form of opera, rather
like the Commedia dell'arte but without Harlequin (rather like the French
Vaudeville). In 1717, actor and manager
John Rich introduced Harlequin
to the British stage under the name of 'Lun' (for 'lunatic') and
began performing wildly popular pantomimes. These pantomimes
gradually became more topical and comic, often involving as many
special theatrical effects as possible.
Colley Cibber and his colleagues competed with
Rich and produced their own pantomimes, and pantomime was a
substantial (if decried) subgenre in
Augustan drama.
According to some
sources, the Lincoln's Inn Field Theatre and the Drury Lane
Theatre
were the first to stage something like real
pantomimes (in the later sense that has become codified with its
fairly rigid set of conventions), creating high competition between
them to put on the more elaborate show. As manager of Drury
Lane in the 1870s,
Augustus Harris
is now considered the father of modern pantomime.
There seems to be some disagreement among scholars as to exactly
when the true pantomime genre got started. According to one eminent
authority, Russell A.
Peck (the John Hall Deane Professor of
English at the University of Rochester
[152705]), 'The first Cinderella Pantomime in
England was the 1804 production at Drury Lane, dir. Mr.
Byrne,'
[152706] with music by
Michael Kelly (1762-1826). This date
would seem too early for panto in its mature form, with its
extensive adherence to a set of conventions, including the
pantomime dame role, the principal boy played by a young woman, the
animal-costume roles, audience participation, etc. But, if Peck
means that this was the first pantomime in England in the older
sense of 'low opera', then his date seems too late, for he seems to
disregard the fact that pantomime as 'low opera' had already arisen
in Restoration-era England, considerably prior to 1804. Even
limiting this claim to
Cinderella, one finds that other
sources give 1870 as the date of the first
Cinderella
pantomime in England (see below).
Pantomime traditions and conventions
Traditionally performed at Christmas, with family audiences consisting mainly
of children and parents, British pantomime is
now a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance,
buffoonery, slapstick, cross-dressing, in-jokes, audience
participation, and mild sexual innuendo. There are a number
of traditional story-lines, and there is also a fairly well-defined
set of performance conventions. Lists of these items follow, along
with a special discussion of the 'guest celebrity' tradition, which
emerged in the late 19th century.
Traditional stories
Panto story lines and scripts typically make no reference to
Christmas, and are almost always based on traditional children's
stories, including several written or popularized by the French
pioneer of the 'fairy tale' genre,
Charles Perrault, as well as others based
on the English tales collected by
Joseph
Jacobs. Plot lines are often 'adapted' for comic or satirical
effect, and certain familiar scenes tend to recur, regardless of
plot relevance. 'Straight' re-tellings of the original stories are
rare in the extreme.
The most popular titles are:
Performance conventions
The form has a number of conventions, some of which have changed or
weakened a little over the years, and by no means all of which are
obligatory.
- The leading male juvenile character (the 'principal boy') - is traditionally played by a
young woman, and usually in tight-fitting male garments (such as
breeches) that make her female charms
evident.
- An older woman (the pantomime
dame - often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man in
drag.
- Risqué double entendre, often
wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases. This is, in
theory, over the heads of the children in the audience.
- Audience participation,
including calls of "Look behind you!" (or "He's behind you!"), and
"Oh, yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always
encouraged to boo the villain and "awwwww" the poor victims, such
as the rejected dame, who usually fancies the prince.
- A song combining a well-known tune with re-written lyrics. The audience is encouraged
to sing the song; often one half of the audience is challenged to
sing 'their' chorus louder than the other half.
- The animal, played by an actor in 'animal skin' or animal
costume. It is often a pantomime
horse or cow, played by two actors in a single costume, one as
the head and front legs, the other as the body and back legs.
- The good fairy always enters from stage right and the evil
villain enters from stage left. In the medieval mystery plays the
right side of the stage symbolised Heaven and the left side
symbolised Hell.
- The members of the cast throw out sweets to the children in the
audience (although in some cases this is not possible due to health
and safety restrictions).
- Sometimes the story villain will squirt members of the audience
with water guns or pretend to throw a bucket of 'water' at the
audience that is actually full of streamers.
- A slapstick comedy routine may be performed, often a decorating
or baking scene, with humour based on throwing messy substances.
Until the 20th century, British pantomimes often concluded with a
harlequinade, a free-standing
entertainment of slapstick. Nowadays the
slapstick is more or less incorporated into the main body of the
show.
- In the 19th century, until the 1880s, pantomimes typically
included a transformation scene in which a Fairy Queen magically
transformed the pantomime characters into the characters of the
harlequinade, who then performed the
harlequinade.
- The Chorus, who can be considered 'Extras' on-stage, who
usually appear in all scenes and who perform a variety of songs and
dances throughout the show. They are a very important role in
Pantomimes.
Guest celebrity in pantomime
Another
contemporary pantomime tradition is the celebrity guest star, a
practice that dates back to the late 19th century, when Augustus Harris, proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, hired well-known variety artists for his
pantomimes.
Until the decline of the British
music
hall tradition by the late 1950s, many popular artists played
in pantomimes across the country. Many modern pantomimes use
popular artists to promote the pantomime, and the play is often
adapted to allow the star to showcase their well-known act, even
when such a spot has little relation to the plot, for example,
Rolf Harris might perform
Jake the Peg in a pantomime about
Aladdin.
Nowadays,
a pantomime occasionally pulls off a coup by engaging a guest star
with an unquestionable thespian reputation, as was the case with
the Christmas 2004 production of Aladdin that featured Sir
Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey, which he reprised in the 2005
production at the Old
Vic
theatre in London
.
As well as being an actor in the
Shakespearean tradition, McKellen had become
hugely famous with children as
Gandalf in
The Lord of the
Rings and
Magneto in
X-Men. "At least we can tell our
grandchildren that we saw McKellen's Twankey and it was huge," said
Michael Billington,
theatre critic of
The
Guardian,
December 20,
2004, entering into the pantomime spirit of
double
entendre. In recent times, the in pantomimes have featured
soap stars, comedians or former sportsmen
rather as celebrity attractions, supplemented by jobbing actors and
pantomime specialists.
The
recently renovated Hackney
Empire
has presented an enormously successful and highly
regarded panto with multi-racial cast since 1988.
York's Theatre Royal pantomime features no guest celebrities, but a
regular cast headed by
Berwick Kaler,
who has played the dame there for 30 years.
Christopher Biggins was a
pantomime dame for 38 years running until 2007 when his attendance
on
I'm A
Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! made it impossible for him
to do a panto that year.
In Canterbury, the Marlowe Theatre traditionally has a famous
person from
EastEnders or
Neighbours, both popular soap operas.
Tewkesbury
's Roses Theatre has a pantomime which has a fully
professional cast (apart from the young chorus/dancers), none of
whom are 'star' soap opera performers, stand-up comedians or pop
singers as a matter of policy. The panto is traditional in
style, and the principal boy is played by a female actor.
In summer
of 1974 the Old
Vic staged Jack and the Beanstalk on a double
bill with Euripides' Bacchae at the
Edinburgh Festival. Jack and the Beanstalk was the
perfect antidote to the passionate violence of Euripides'
tragedy.
Since 2005, British television and theatre actor
John Barrowman has been returning repeatedly
to the pantomime, playing Prince Charming in 2005's
Cinderella; Jack in 2006's
Jack and the
Beanstalk; Aladdin in 2007's
Aladdin; and most
recently the title character of Robin Hood in 2008/2009.
Pantomime Roles
| Role |
Role Description |
Played by |
| Principal Boy/Girl |
Main Character in the pantomime |
Man/Woman
In most pantomimes there is a Principal boy played by a women,
often wearing tights to show off a shapely pair of
legs
|
| Panto Dame |
Normally the Hero's Mother |
Man |
| Co-Principal Boy/Girl |
Normally the Hero's Love Interest |
Man/Woman |
| Villain |
The Bad guy of a pantomime |
Man |
Pantomime outside the United Kingdom
Pantomime in Australia
Pantomimes in Australia at Christmas have also always been very
popular, and professional productions often feature celebrities.
During
the 1950s, a Christmas Cinderella pantomime in Sydney
featured
Danny Kaye as Buttons. There are also radio
pantomimes at Christmas which are featured on the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation
.
The
Adventures of Goldilockpick and Little Red Riding Hoodlum
is one of a string of fractured pantos by North Queensland
playwright
Todd Barty.
Barty most recently
directed the play for Tropic Sun
Theatre in Townsville
. While a small production company in
Brisbane is trying to revive 'new' pantomimes. Sean Dennehy, a
Brisbane-based English theatre actor, director and writer, has
written
Tradition Impossible, a contemporary panto being
shown at South Bank Parklands for the Christmas period.
At the "
University of
Western Australia", a group of students created "The UWA
Pantomime Society" in 2003. Each semester the society write and
produce a self-devised pantomime.
On the other hand it is probably fair to say that the familiarity
of young Australians with the genre has declined rather than risen
since the middle of the last century, for all manner of
reasons.
Pantomime in Cambodia
The 'Phnom Penh Players' (Cambodia's most established
ex-pat amateur theatre company) hold an annual panto
each December. Their performances follow all the basic rules of
Panto, and they have incorporated the idea of characters which
don't belong in the show. These charactes often reflect upon the
ridiculousness of the situations in which the play's main
characters find themselves (echoing the feeling that most expats
have everyday).
Pantomime in Canada
Christmas pantomimes have been performed in Canada for as many
years as there have been British residents that enjoy this type of
theatre.
2009SPECC-Tacular Productions from Maple Ridge, B.C have been
producing Pantomimes since 2001 under the expert direction of South
African Ed Marshall and Brits Su Wolfe, Christine Olorenshaw and
Pauline De Silva. Using mainly British Scripts their Panto's are
tradition with Wolfe and Marshall usually playing Principal Boy and
Dame respectivly.2009 see's the return of Cinderella under the
direction of Marshall who wrote the script. 2010 see's
SPECC-tacular Productions breaking with tradition by bringing 2
pantomimes to The Act, Maple Ridge. The Wizard of Oz - a summer
spectacular and Beauty & The Beast at Christmas.
2009The White Rock Players' Club in White Rock, British Columbia
has been producing Christmas pantomimes since 1955.
[152707] They
have developed their own style of Panto and although it strays from
the stricter British rules, the Dame, Principal Boy, Principal Girl
and double entendres remain. The longest continually operating
Panto group in Ontario is Peel Panto Players in Brampton, Ontario,
founded in 1974.
[152708]
Since 1996 [3],
Ross Petty has been
producing 'Fractured Fairy Tale Musicals' at Toronto’s Elgin
Theatre. These shows are firmly in the old English pantomime
tradition, incorporating many of the style’s elements—broad comedy,
winking asides that break the 'fourth wall', audience participation
and a man in a dress, often Mr. Petty himself. The guest stars are
chosen to be of fun and interest to Toronto audiences, and include
Canadian TV stars (
Ernie Coombs, better
known as
Mr. Dressup,
Sheila McCarthy, two of the
Degrassi kids) ballet stars (
Karen Kain,
Frank
Augustyn,
Rex Harrington and
athletes (Olympic skater
Kurt
Browning, WWE wrestler
Bret Hart). The
list of shows produced is also in keeping with panto tradition:
Peter Pan,
Cinderella,
Aladdin,
Robin Hood,
Jack and the Beanstalk and
Snow White.
In 2007,
Booff Show, a Toronto-based
comedy group, was established by world-renowned clown/mime Nikolai
Terentiev, using the fundamentals of European/Russian style
pantomime and clowning arts in theater.
Since 2006, Drayton Entertainment
[152709],
located in Ontario under the artistic direction of Alex Mustakas,
has been offering traditional British Panto at Christmas under the
direction and choreography of Trudy Moffatt. Using well known
Canadian theatrical performers as well as Canadian TV stars (such
as Fred Stinson, best known as
Major
Bedhead from
The Big Comfy
Couch) the show list includes
Aladdin,
Cinderella,
Robin
Hood, and an original offering called The Christmas
Since 1996, North Vancouver's SMP Dramatic Society
[152710] has been
producing pantos, including the traditional (
Cinderella,
Aladdin, and
Snow White) along with the less
traditional (the western Panto at the OK Corral and the upcoming
The Wizard of Oz).
In Victoria (BC), St. Luke's Players
[152711] have
been presenting a panto since 2006, although some of its members
have been participating in pantos for over 30 years.
East End Theatre of Ottawa, Canada has been performing a Christmas
panto since 2002 under the direction of Diane Barnett. Next year in
2009 it will be in the new theatre in Orleans. To become a member
and to support East End Theatre, visit www.eastendtheatre.com
In Edmonton, Alberta, the St. George of England Society has been
performing a pantomime around Christmas or New Year's since the
early 1980s. In 2009, the Society celebrated its 25th
pantomime.
Internationally recognized and talented mime and pantomime artist,
Director Zillur Rahman John started to work on pantomime art in
Edmonton, Canada. He has been honored by the Canadian City
-Edmonton and received the award "The City of Edmonton Cultural
Diversity in the Arts Award 2008" for his pantomime works and
contribution in different countries. City Mayor Stephen Mendal
presented the award on behalf of the city. John is directing a
pantomime production to be staged on March 28, 2009 in Edmonton,
Canada.
The Lakeside Players
[152712] is a non-profit community theatre
group formed in January of 1990 in the Britannia neighborhood of
Ottawa, Canada, and based at Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre (formerly
Lakeside Gardens) in Britannia Park. The spring of 1990 heralded
our first production, a 2-hour variety show that included musical
and comedy acts, and two dramatic scenes from full-length plays.
Starting in the 1991/92 season, we performed
Aladdin - A Traditional British Pantomime and have
continued this, now a Lakeside Players tradition, with successful
productions of
Jack and the
Beanstalk,
Cinderella, The Princess
and the Sentinel, The Wonderful Story of
Mother Goose, The
Sleeping Beauty,
Robinson Crusoe,
Red Riding Hood,
Hickory Dickory Dock and
Puss in Boots . These productions have
included up to 25 children dancing and singing, and 10 - 15 adults
in the casts. Much of the music for these productions has been
written by our members and up to six musicians have performed the
arrangements. Our audiences look forward to BOOing the Bad Guys and
CHEERing the Good Guys, and joining us in the many familiar songs
that are included. The traditional Pantomime animals in our
productions have included a dancing Camel, Daisy the Cow,
Moosesense, and Priscilla...the goose that lays golden eggs.
Pantomime in France
The
Secret Panto Society has
been created by British expatriates. Since 1984 they have performed
pantomimes each winter with an ever-increasing success, in the
small town of Pibrac, near Toulouse in southern France.
Pantomime in Germany
Chaincourt Theatre Group of Goethe University Frankfurt puts on a
pantomime each year.
Pantomime in Switzerland
The
Geneva Amateur Operatic
Society has performed a traditional English pantomime in
Geneva
since
1972.The English Theatre Group of Zug has also performed
pantomimes since the 1990s.The Basel English Panto Group also
performs every year.
Pantomime in The Netherlands
I.D.E.A
(Intl Drama English speaking Associates) http://www.idea-panto.nl
stage their Panto's Jan/Feb time in Hendrik Ido Ambacht
, The Netherlands
. IDEA is an English speaking drama group set
up by expats with English as their mother tongue in the South of
the Netherlands in 1991.
The AATG
[152713]
(Anglo-American Theatre Group) also stages a panto in the Netherlands. In 2009, they will be performing "Peter Pan" at the Koninklijke Schouwburg (Royal
Theatre) in The
Hague
in December.
Pantomime in the United States
Pantomime, as described in this article, is
seldom performed in the United States of America
. As a consequence, Americans commonly
understand the word "pantomime" to refer to the art of
mime (as was practised, for example, by
Marcel Marceau and
Nola
Rae), and assume it to be a
solo
performance such as is as common on
street corners as on stage. However,
certain shows that came from the pantomime traditions, especially
Peter Pan, are performed quite often, and
a few American theatre companies produce traditional British-style
pantomime as well as American adaptations of the form.
The form is not completely unknown in the U.S. The Piccolo Theatre
of Evanston, Illinois, for example, has written and produced
holiday pantomimes, or pantos, annually since 2001 as part of its
mission to revive traditional physical comedy theater forms for
presentation to American audiences. Stages Repertory Theatre in
Houston, Texas, produced a panto
Cinderella in December 2008, with book and
lyrics by Kate Hawley and music by Gregg Coffin. For the 2009
Christmas season, the Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company staged
the same children's classic as a pantomine production.
Earliest U.S. productions
As for
the earliest pantomime productions in the US, the above-cited
Professor Peck[152714] of the University of Rochester lists Cinderella pantomime productions in New York
(March 1808), New York again (August 1808), Philadelphia (1824),
and Baltimore (1839) [152715]. However, it is doubtful to what
extent these early productions resembled pantomime by its current
definition in England, which dates from about the last third of the
19th century.
Pantomime in the United Kingdom today
Many theatres in cities and provincial towns throughout the United
Kingdom continue to have an annual professional pantomime.
Pantomime is also very popular with
amateur dramatics societies throughout the
UK, and the pantomime season (roughly speaking, December to
February) will see pantomime productions in many village halls and
similar venues across the country.
The Archers
Most years the long running
radio soap opera The Archers
on
BBC Radio 4 has a pantomime in the
village hall produced by
Linda
Snell.
Apart from the joke that a group of experienced professional actors
is portraying an essentially local and amateur event, it is a
highly convincing element of the
Ambridge scene.
References
- R. J. Broadbent: A History of Pantomime. London, 1901.
External links