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For other uses, see Pantomime (disambiguation).
The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890
The Christmas Pantomime colour lithograph bookcover, 1890

Pantomime (informally, panto) (not to be confused with a mime artist, refering to a theatrical performer of mime) is a performance genre traditionally found in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Ireland, and is usually performed during the Christmas and New Year season. Lithography is a method for Printing using a plate or stone with a completely smooth surface See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world

Contents

History

Origins and sources

A pantomimos in Greece was originally a solo dancer who 'imitated all' (panto- - all, mimos - mimic) accompanied by sung narrative and instrumental music, often played on the flute. The flute is a Musical instrument of the Woodwind family Unlike other woodwind instruments a flute is a Reedless wind instrument that produces its The word later came to be applied to the performance itself. [1] The pantomime was an extremely popular form of entertainment in ancient Greece and, later, Rome. Like theatre, it encompassed the genres of comedy and tragedy. Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and No ancient pantomime libretto has survived, partly because the genre was looked down upon by the literary elite. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Nonetheless, notable ancient poets such as Lucan wrote for the pantomime, no doubt in part because the work was well paid[2]. In a speech of the late 1st cent. AD now lost, the orator Aelius Aristides condemned the pantomime for its erotic content and the "effeminacy" of its dancing[3]. Aelius Aristides (AD 117 - 181 was a popular Greek orator who lived during the Roman Empire.

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 middle ages, and which reached England by the 16th century. Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in 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. Joseph Grimaldi ( December 18, 1778 &ndash May 31, 1837) the most celebrated of English Clowns Grimaldi's performances 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. A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with Males or Females in a given social group or system Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, and Epiphany ( Greek for "to manifest" or "to show" is a Christian Feast day which celebrates the "shining forth" or revelation of This tradition can be traced back to pre-Christian European festivals such as Samhain and Saturnalia. Samhain (ˈsaʊn or /ˈsɑːwɪn/ Irish /ˈsˠaunʲ/ from the Old Irish samain) is the word for November in a few Gaelic languages Saturnalia is the feast with which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn

Development as a distinctly British entertainment

The Pantomime first arrived in England as entr'actes between opera pieces, eventually evolving into separate shows. Entr'acte is French for "between the acts" (German Zwischenspiel, Italian Intermezzo)

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). The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Commedia dell'Arte ( Italian: "the comedy of artists" is a form of Improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s 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. John Rich (1692 - 1761 was an important director and theatre manager in 18th century London. 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. Colley Cibber (ˈkɒli ˈsɪbɚ (11 June 1671 &ndash 12 November 1757 was a British actor-manager playwright and Poet Laureate. Augustan drama can refer to the Dramas of Ancient Rome during the reign of Caesar Augustus, but it most commonly refers to the plays 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 create the more elaborate show. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. As manager of Drury Lane in the 1870s, Augustus Harris is now considered the father of modern pantomime. Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris ( 18 March 1852 &ndash 22 June 1896) was a British Actor, Impresario, and Dramatist This form had virtually died out by the end of the 19th century.

There seems to be some scholarly disagreement as to exactly when the true pantomime genre gets started. According to one eminent authority, Russell A. Peck (the John Hall Deane Professor of English at the University of Rochester [1]),"The first Cinderella Pantomime in England was the 1804 production at Drury Lane, dir. The University of Rochester ( U of R UR) is a private, nonsectarian Coeducational Research University located in Rochester Mr. Byrne," [2] with music by Michael Kelly (1762-1826). Michael Kelly ( December 25 1762 &ndash October 9 1826) was an Irish Actor, singer ( Tenor) Composer and theatrical 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. But of course, this date only applies to pantomime productions of the Cinderella tale, not of other tales. Yet 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, in-jokes, audience participation, and mild sexual innuendo. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 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. Joseph Jacobs ( 29 August 1854 - 30 January 1916) was a literary and Jewish Historian. 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 Three Bears or Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a notable children's bedtime story Jack and the Beanstalk is an English Fairy tale, closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant Killer. Mother Goose is a well-known figure in the Literature of Fairy tales and Nursery rhymes Mother Goose is best known in the United States, in the Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J Sleeping Beauty ( "La Belle au Bois dormant" (The Beauty asleep in the wood is a Fairy tale classic the first in the set published in 1697 by Snow White (in Low German Sneewittchen; in High German Schneeweißchen) is the title character of a Fairy tale known from many countries in


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. Sir Augustus Henry Glossop Harris ( 18 March 1852 &ndash 22 June 1896) was a British Actor, Impresario, and Dramatist Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn.

Until the decline of the British music hall tradition by the late 1950s, many popular artists played in pantomimes across the country. Music hall is a form of British theatrical Entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960 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. Rolf Harris CBE, AM (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian Musician, Singer, Composer, painter "Jake the Peg" was a fictional three-legged man played by Rolf Harris in the 1960s

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. Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939 is an English stage and screen actor the Widow Twankey is a female character in the Pantomime Aladdin. The Old Vic is a Theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

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. William Shakespeare ( baptised Concept and creation Humphrey Carpenter in his 1977 biography relates that Tolkien owned a Postcard entitled Der Berggeist ("the mountain The Lord of the Rings film trilogy consists of three Live action Fantasy Epic films The Fellowship of the Ring ( 2001 Magneto (alias Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, born Max Eisenhardt) is a Fictional character that appears in Comic books published by Marvel The X-Men is a team of fictional Superhero characters in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. "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. Michael Keith Billington (born November 16, 1939) is a British Author and arts Critic. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " 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. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio.

The recently renovated Hackney Empire has presented an enormously successful and highly regarded panto with multi-racial cast since 1988. The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a Music hall.

York's Theatre Royal pantomime features no guest celebrities, but a regular cast headed by Berwick Kaler, who has played the dame there for 27 years. Berwick Kaler (born 1947 is a British actor most famous for playing the dame in York Theatre Royal 's annual Pantomime, which he also writes and directs

Christopher Biggins has been 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, it is their tradition to have a famous person from "Eastenders" or "Neighbours", which are both popular soap operas.

Pantomime outside the United Kingdom

Pantomime in India

The ancient sacred art of Natya evolved into the modern musical pantomime of the classical Indian dance styles. The Nātya Shastra ( Sanskrit: Nātyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र is an ancient Indian treatise on the Performing arts Indian classical dance is a relatively new umbrella term for various codified art forms rooted in Natya, the sacred Hindu Musical theatre styles whose theory The two aspects of Natya combine lokadharmi (portrayal of the common men, human interactions and common life) and natyadharmi (portrayal of the divine beings, subtle experiences and religious stories). The Nātya Shastra ( Sanskrit: Nātyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र is an ancient Indian treatise on the Performing arts

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. Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Danny Kaye ( January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American award-winning Actor, Singer and Comedian Buttons is the name of a character in the Cinderella Pantomime. There are also radio pantomimes at Christmas which are featured on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly abbreviated to the 'ABC' is Australia's national public broadcaster.

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 Canada

Pantomime in the United States

Pantomime, as described in this article, is seldom performed in the United States of America. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the As a consequence, the word "pantomime" is more commonly understood to refer to the art of mime, as was practised by Marcel Marceau or Nola Rae and is often assumed to be a solo performance seen as often on street corners as on stage. Marcel Marceau (born Marcel Mangel) ( 22 March 1923 &ndash 22 September 2007) was a well-known French Mime artist Busking is the practice of performing in Public places for Tips and Gratuities. However, certain shows that came from the pantomime traditions, especially Peter Pan, are performed quite often, and there are a few American theatre companies which produce traditional British-style pantomime as well as American adaptations of the form.

Among recent American revivals (or transplantings) of the genre, the Hideout Players in Chicago have now presented two Christmas pantomimes which stay true to the English form. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Jon Langford, a British singer and artist, plays the pantomime dame, and a pantomime whale ("Moby Duck," half-whale/half-duck) has eaten the villain on both occasions. Jon Langford is a Welsh-born musician and artist who is based in Chicago. The genre has also resurfaced in Baltimore, with a 2007-8 Christmas season panto production of Puss in Boots at the Theatre Project receiving favorable review in that city's paper of record, the Sun. The Baltimore Sun (officially just The Sun) is Maryland ’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides comprehensive coverage According to the Sun, panto is "a theatrical style that Roger Brunyate [artistic director[3] of the Peabody Opera Theatre at the Peabody Institute], who wrote and directed this newly conceived Puss in Boots, remembers from his childhood in the United Kingdom. The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood "[4] New York City's Pantomonium Productions has staged annual pantomimes since 2004, catering to the city's underprivileged kids and becoming a mainstay of New York family culture.

As for the earliest pantomime productions in the US, the above-cited Professor Peck[5] of the University of Rochester lists Cinderella pantomime productions in New York (March 1808), New York again (August 1808), Philadelphia (1824), and Baltimore (1839) [6]. The University of Rochester ( U of R UR) is a private, nonsectarian Coeducational Research University located in Rochester But 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 cities and provincial theatres throughout the United Kingdom continue to have an annual pantomime.

Pantomime is 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. Amateur theatre is Theatre which is not staged chiefly for financial benefit The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

References

  1. ^ There is a detailed description of ancient pantomime performance in Apuleius Metamorphoses, 10,29 ff
  2. ^ Vacca, Life of Lucan 336
  3. ^ Mesk, J. Apuleius should not be confused with Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, a Roman demagogue or with Pseudo-Apuleius, an author Vacca was a sixth century grammarian who studied and commented on the works of Lucan. , Des Aelius Aristides Rede gegen die Tänzer, WS 30 (1908)

External links

Dictionary

pantomime

-noun

  1. (UK) a traditional Christmas entertainment, mostly for children.
  2. A type of entertainment where players act out ideas or express themselves without the use of their voices, sometimes to musical accompaniment.
  3. (figuratively) A derivation or copy of a performance whose execution is insufficient, facile, etc.

-verb

  1. (transitive) To gesture without speaking.
  2. (transitive) To entertain others by silent gestures or actions.
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