It’s Pantomime Time!
Pantomimes are being performed in theatres, village halls and community centres throughout the land.
We all know what they are but to try and describe them to a visitor to this nation is more difficult.
A traditional Christmas play, loosely based on one of the fairytales or sometimes a mixture of a few of them, containing contemporary music and songs, some which the audience can participate in.
In it at least one man will be dressed as a woman, playing a female character and a woman is likely to be playing the prince, or lead male character. This is because it is funnier, and pantomimes were originally Mummers plays performed in manor houses by travelling players who were all male and had to take female and male roles.
Audience participation is vital, ‘oh yes it is!’ They expect to join in throughout by shouting ‘look behind you’ when the ‘villain’ appears behind the hero or heroine, and arguing the toss whenever the key character shouts ‘Oh yes it is, or oh no it isn’t!’ The audience will cheer for the heroes and boo or hiss at the villains, throughout. This includes adults in the audience, who seem to revert to childhood, as well as the children themselves.
Pantomimes run from December usually until end January, though sometimes mid February. Actors, TV personalities, pop stars and others take part in them and act as a magnet to encourage people to see the show.
Other sure events are that a couple of children will be invited to participate in something on stage and sweets will be thrown at the audience at the end.
They are quirky, eccentric, funny, full of contradictions and we love them. Maybe because in a way, they depict all the good, crazy aspects of Britain.
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softinthehead said,
January 10th, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Beautifully summed up. I used to love these as a child but several years ago when our children were much younger we too them to see Puss In Boots I think it was and they both promptly fell asleep while their mum and dad yelled as loud as possible. Thanks for the memory.
Falashay said,
January 13th, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
Very well put. I love panto’s but I’ve taken friends from Spain, France, America and Japan and not one of them has really found them that funny. I’ve always felt a bit embarrassed afterwards when I’ve stopped shouting ‘look behind you’ and ‘oh no he’s not’ and see them looking at me as though i’m slightly demented. Still all the other British are doing likewise so they do realise it’s a crazy cultural thing.
Will said,
January 21st, 2008 @ 11:45 am
“Ah Pantomimes! Never a more hotly disputed art than that of the cliche-laden, audience-engaging, man-in-drag featuring panto. These scared me as a kid with their vibrancy and liberalism, but I have to say that a viewing two years ago at my local village hall swiftly turned my emotional tide…”
Open to England » It’s Pantomime Time! said,
January 21st, 2008 @ 11:49 am
[...] Ah Pantomimes! Never a more hotly disputed art than that of the cliche-laden, audience-engaging, man-in-drag featuring panto. These scared me as a kid with their vibrancy and liberalism, but I have to say that a viewing two years ago at my local village hall swiftly turned my emotional tide. The commercial juggernaut panto featuring C-list celebs does little to tickle the senses and one has to question whether they would go out of their way to impede their lives with such crass banality. Kirsten from Childrens BBC? Brian Blessed? Are they deliberately trying to turn people away from the theatre? Pantomimes are a nice tradition but one in which I am not quite sure how to respond. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Almost American said,
January 21st, 2008 @ 9:34 pm
I’ve taken my American DH to 3 different pantos in the UK. He picked up on it pretty fast, and still quotes lines he particularly liked from Babes in the Woods at Theatr Clwyd. Dear Daughter was terrified at first by the Rat Queen in Puss in Boots in New Brighton, but shouting BOOOOO and HISSSSS at her made the villainess a lot less scary apparently. I’ve been to some kids’ theater here in the US where they’ve wanted to get the kids to participate by shouting things like “He’s behind you” and it was very interesting to see the lack of participation at first. The first season, the audience was relatively quiet by English panto standards, but it has become a local tradition and now the regulars know what to do. Like the English panto there are some jokes included for the parents’ sake too – not crude like in panto, but more politically themed. One thing DH and I noticed was that you do need some knowledge of local celebrities and politics to understand all the jokes in English panto. It is definitely a very cultural experience!