Pantomime theatre: Encyclopedia II - Pantomime theatre - Today

Pantomime theatre - Today

Today British, pantomime is a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, sexual innuendo and satire, traditionally performed at Christmas, with family audiences consisting mainly of children and parents. (See also Christmas Pie).

Pantomimes tend to be loosely based on traditional children's stories, and there are only a small number of basic themes and titles, the most popular being:

• 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, which include:

• The leading male character (the "principal boy") is often played by a young woman.
• An older woman (the pantomime dame) is played by a man in women's clothing.
• Risqué double entendre, often to the point of wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases.
• There is a great deal of 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, which is played by two actors in a single costume – one as the head and front legs, the other as the body and back legs.

Another great UK panto tradition is the celebrity guest star, a practice which 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. In modern times, the "celebrity" is usually somebody of doubtful value either as an actor or even as a publicity draw — an ex-soap star trying to shore up a slipping career, for instance — but occasionally a pantomime will feature a genuine celebrity, as with the Christmas 2004 production of Aladdin that featured Sir Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey, which he is currently reprising in the 2005 production at the Old Vic theatre in London. (McKellen has become hugely famous with children as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men.)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Today", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki