It has been suggested that The British Pantomime be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890

In Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland pantomime (informally, panto) refers to a theatrical genre, usually performed around the Christmas and New Year holiday season. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... Pantomimes are a tradition throughout the UK over the Christmas Holidays. ... Cover, Pantomime F. Warne & Co. ... Cover, Pantomime F. Warne & Co. ... Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface, as well as a method of manufacturing semiconductor and MEMS devices. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ...

Origin

The performance of Pantomime originates at its earliest in ancient Greece, but exploded in popularity during the reign of Augustus in ancient Rome. The style and content of modern panto has very clear and strong links with the Commedia dell'arte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy, in the early middle ages, and which reached England by the 16th century. 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. Karel Dujardins set his closely-observed scene of a travelling troupes makeshift stage against idealized ruins in the Roman Campagna: dated 1657 (Louvre Museum) Commedia Dellarte (Italian: comedy of professional artists also interpreted as comedy of humors), also known as Extemporal Comedy, was a form of improvisational theater... A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the 12th and final night of the Christmas season. ... This article is about the Christian feast. ... Samhain (IPA: ) is the word for November in the Irish Gaelic language. ... Saturnalia was the feast at which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which took place on 17 December. ...

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, 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. This form had virtually died out by the end of the 19th century. King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi   - Water (%) Population... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognisable opera houses and landmarks. ... Arlecchino (also known as Harlequin in English, Arlequin in French) is the most popular of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dellArte. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... // Events January 4 — The Netherlands, Britain & France sign Triple Alliance February 26-March 6 What is now the northeastern United States was paralyzed by a series of blizzards that buried the region. ... John Rich (1682 - 1761) was an important theater manager in 18th century London. ... Colley Cibber, actor, playwright, Poet Laureate, first British actor-manager, and head Dunce of Alexander Popes Dunciad. ... Augustan drama can refer to the dramas of Ancient Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus, but it most commonly refers to the plays of Great Britain in the early 18th century, a subset of 18th-century Augustan literature. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Today

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, satire and mild sexual innuendo (but to the innocent everything is pure). Plots are often loosely based on traditional children's stories, the most popular titles being: Christmas is a Christian holiday held on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... The World According To Ronald Reagan - a Finnish satirical poster from 1984 Satire is a technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...

• Aladdin (sometimes combined with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves)
• Babes in the Wood (often combined with Robin Hood)
• Cinderella
• Dick Whittington
• Jack and the Beanstalk
• Mother Goose
• Puss in Boots
• Sleeping Beauty
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Snow White
• Peter Pan

The form has a number of conventions. Aladdin in the Magic Garden, an illustration by Max Liebert from Ludwig Fuldas Aladdin und die Wunderlampe Aladdin (a corruption of the Arabic name Alā ad-Dīn, Arabic: علاء الدين literally nobility of faith) is one of the tales with a Syrian origin[1] in The Book of One Thousand... The adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves was added to the traditional collection of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights by its European transcriber, Antoine Galland, an 18th-century French orientalist who had heard it in oral form from a Maronite story-teller from Aleppo. ... Babes in the Wood is a traditional childrens tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. ... Robin Hood memorial statue in Nottingham. ... Gustave Dorés illustration for Cendrillon For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation). ... Dick Whittington is a character in British pantomime, very loosely based on the real-life Richard Whittington. ... Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman. ... A page from a late 17th century handwritten and illustrated version of Charles Perraults Contes de ma mère lOye (Mother Goose Tales) depicting Puss in Boots. ... Gustave Dor s 19th century engraving of le chat bott Puss in Boots is a European folktale collected by Charles Perrault in his Contes de ma m re lOye (Mother Goose Tales), and earlier in 1634, by Giambattista Basile as Gagliuso. ... Sir Edward Burne-Jones painted The Sleeping Beauty. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into The Three Bears. ... Snow White in her coffin, Theodor Hosemann, 1867. ... Peter Pan is a fictional character created by British novelist and playwright, James Matthew Barrie (1860–1937), as well as the title of a stage play and novel based on the character. ...

• The leading male character (the "principal boy") is played by a young woman.
• An older woman (the pantomime dame) is played by a man in drag.
• Risqué double entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases.
• Audience participation, including calls of "he's behind you!", and "oh yes it is!" or "oh no it isn't!"
• The 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.

Another contemporary panto 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 artistes for his pantomimes. Occasionally a pantomime pulls off a coup by engaging a guest star with an unquestionable thespian reputation, as 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. However in modern times, the value of these celebrities in provincial pantomime, either as actors or attractions, is sometimes questionable with erstwhile soap stars, comedians or sportsmen reviving a declining public career. In pantomime, the principal boy role is the young male protagonist of the play, traditionally played by a young actress in boys clothes. ... A pantomime dame is a traditional character in British Panto. ... Drag in its broadest sense means a costume or outfit that carries symbolic significance, but usually refers to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of the other gender. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Profanity. ... An audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. ... A pantomime horse (there are also pantomime cows and other animals) is a theatrical representation of a horse or other ungulate by two actors in a single costume who cooperate and synchronize their movements. ... Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris (1852-1896) was an actor, impresario, and dramatist. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ... Christmas is a Christian holiday held on December 25 which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir is a British honorary title representing knighthood or baronetcy. ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CBE, (born May 25, 1939) is a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor, the recipient of a Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... Widow Twankey is a character in the pantomime Aladdin. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The exterior of the Old Vic. ... It has been suggested that Drama (art form) be merged into this article or section. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... William Shakespeare—born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 (O.S.), May 3, 1616 (N.S.)—has a reputation as the greatest of all writers in English. ... Gandalf is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, where he appears as an archetypal wizard, taking a leading role in the War of the Ring. ... The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie poster (2001) The Lord of the Rings film trilogy comprises three live action fantasy adventure films, directed by Peter Jackson and released by New Line Cinema, based upon the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings by J. R... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this comics-related article or section may require cleanup. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television...

One of the most popular and critically acclaimed (not to mention commercially successful) pantomimes in recent years has been the one at the York Theatre Royal. It features no guest celebrities, but rather a regular cast headed by Berwick Kaler, who has played the dame there for 27 years and has built up a devoted fan-base. Kaler has been credited with reviving a dying tradition. Tickets go on sale April 1; in 2005 the first buyer turned up at 3am. Well before the opening they had sold 30,000 of the 50,000 seats, something that many celebrity-centred pantos could only dream of. He was interviewed by The Independent newspaper in 2004 for an article marking his 25th season: York is a city in northern England, at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss. ... Berwick Kaler (born 1947) is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in the York Theatre Royals annual pantomime, which he also writes and directs. ... For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ...

"The panto," Kaler says, "has been said to be dying for years. Well, some of them deserve to die." These are the ones that flout tradition by casting a young man as principal boy, or by diminishing the role of the dame, sometimes writing her out altogether. Having cast clapped-out TV stars to draw the audiences, these pseudo-pantos "make no further effort. They just don't try. I dive into a tank of water every year. Who wants to do that?" [1]

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. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... Kaye entertaining U.S. troops at Sasebo, Japan, 25 Oct 1945 Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer and comedian. ... Buttons Buttons is the name of a character in a Cinderella pantomime. ... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) [1] is Australias national non-commercial public broadcaster. ...

Pantomime in United States of America

The Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society presents a pantomime every January [2].

The Shoestring Shakespeare Company, a troupe based in San Antonio, Texas, puts on a panto every year.

In the United States, however, "pantomime" is more commonly understood to refer a mime artist, such as Marcel Marceau. A Mime Artist performing in the street A Mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art. ... Marcel Marceau, as Bip Marcel Marceau (born March 22, 1923) is a well-known mime and among the most popular representatives of this art form world-wide. ...

Pantomime in Canada

The Courtenay Little Theatre Company, a troupe based in Courtenay, British Columbia, puts on a panto every year, usually incorporating jokes about local politicians, and different areas making up the Comox Valley.

External links

• The origins of pantomime stories
• Pantomime tutorial
• The Magic of Pantomime
• Write a Brilliant Pantomime