Difference between revisions 126757119 and 126757823 on dewiki

{{otheruses|Pantomime (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:WarnePantomine1890.jpg|thumb|237px|''The Christmas Pantomime'' colour [[lithograph]] bookcover, 1890, showing the [[harlequinade]] characters]]

'''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]], [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Jamaica]], [[South Africa]], [[Japan]], [[India]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Gibraltar]] and [[Republic of Malta|Malta]], and is mostly  performed during the Christmas and New Year season.<ref>[[Chris Roberts (author)|Chris Roberts]], Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press,2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)</ref>  The word derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] "παντόμιμος" (''pantomimos''), "pantomimic actor"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpanto%2Fmimos παντόμιμος], 
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> and that from "παντός" (''pantos''), genitive of "πᾶς" (''pas''), "every, all"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dpa%3Ds1 πᾶς], 
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> + "μίμος" (''mimos''), "imitator, actor".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dmi%3Dmos μίμος], 
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref>

==History==
A 'pantomime' in [[Ancient Greece]] was originally a group who 'imitates all'  accompanied by sung narrative and instrumental music, often played on the [[flute]]. The word later came to be applied to the performance itself.<ref> There is a detailed description of ancient pantomime performance in [[Apuleius]] ''Metamorphoses'', 10,29 ff</ref> The pantomime was a popular form of entertainment in ancient Greece and, later, Rome. Like theatre, it encompassed the genres of [[comedy]], [[tragedy]], and [[sex]]. No ancient pantomime [[libretto]] has survived, partly because the genre was looked down upon by the literary elite. Nonetheless, notable ancient poets such as [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]] wrote for the pantomime, no doubt in part because the work was well paid.<ref>[[Vacca]], Life of Lucan 336</ref> 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.<ref>Mesk, J., Des Aelius Aristides Rede gegen die Tänzer, WS 30 (1908)</ref>

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 improvised and told stories which told lessons to the crowd, changing the main character depending on where they were performing. The great clown [[Joseph Grimaldi|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 (holiday)|Twelfth Night]], a combination of [[Epiphany (feast)|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]].

[[Image:Richarlequin.jpg|up in hell|thumb|215px|[[John Rich (producer)|John Rich]] as Harlequin, c. 1720]]

===Development as a distinctly English entertainment===
The pantomime first arrived in England as [[entr'acte]]s between opera pieces, eventually evolving into separate shows. 

In [[English Restoration|Restoration England]], a pantomime was considered a low form of [[opera]], rather like the [[Commedia dell'arte]] but without [[Arlecchino|Harlequin]] (rather like the [[France|French]] [[Vaudeville]]). In 1717, actor and manager [[John Rich (producer)|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 [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|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]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochester.edu/College/ENG/faculty/russell_peck.html |title=Department of English — Russell A. Peck |publisher=Rochester.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> 'The first Cinderella Pantomime in England was the 1804 production at Drury Lane, dir. Mr. Byrne,'<ref name="rochester1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/CAMELOT/cinder/cin8.htm |title=Pantomime, Burlesque, and Children's Drama |publisher=Lib.rochester.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> with music by [[Michael Kelly (tenor)|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, [[United Kingdom|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:

*''[[Aladdin]]'' (sometimes combined with ''[[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves]]'' and/or other ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]]'' tales. It is traditionally set in [[China]] - following the original tale - rather than the [[Middle East]], as in Disney)
*''[[Babes in the Wood]]'' (often combined with ''[[Robin Hood]]'')
*''[[Beauty and the Beast]]''
*''[[Cinderella]]'', the most popular of all pantomimes and first shown in 1870 in [[Covent Garden]], [[London]]
*''[[Dick Whittington and His Cat]]'', first staged as a pantomime in 1814, based on a 17th century play.
*''[[Goldilocks and the Three Bears]]''
*''[[Goody Two Shoes]]''
*''[[Jack and the Beanstalk]]'' (Sometimes including references to nursery rhymes and other children's stories involving characters called Jack, such as ''[[Jack and Jill]]'')
*''[[Little Red Riding Hood]]''
*''[[Mother Goose]]''
*''[[Peter Pan]]''
*''[[Puss in Boots]]''
*''[[Robinson Crusoe]]''
*''[[Sleeping Beauty]]''
*''[[Snow White]]''
*''[[The Princess and the Pea]]''
*''[[The Snow Queen]]''

===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 (clothing)|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 "He's behind you!" (or "Look 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 [[parody music|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.
* 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.<ref name=Crowther23>Crowther, Andrew.  "Clown and Harlequin", ''W. S. Gilbert Society Journal'', vol. 3, issue 23, Summer 2008, pp. 710–12</ref>
* The Chorus, who can be considered [[Extra (actor)|extras]] on-stage, and often appear in multiple scenes (but as different characters) and who perform a variety of songs and dances throughout the show.  Due to their multiple roles they may have as much stage-time as the lead characters themselves.

===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 [[Drury Lane|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]]. Shakespearian actor [[Roger Allam]] starred opposite McKellen as the evil Abanazaar.  In the late 80s and early 90s a string of Australian stars made famous by the popular soaps like 'Neighbours' entered the panto ring.  [[Ray Meagher]] known as 'Alf' in 'Home and Away', now on Channel 5, is still a pantomime regular and championed as Best Baddy by Radio One.

The current celebrity stalwarts of British pantomime are [[Su Pollard]], [[Matthew Kelly]], [[The Chuckle Brothers]], [[Bradley Walsh]], [[Russ Abbott]], [[Shane Ritchie]], [[Paul O'Grady]], [[Barbara Windsor]], [[Brian Conley]], [[Paul Zerdin]], [[Cilla Black]], [[Les Dennis]], [[Chris Jarvis]], [[Steve McFadden]], [[Justin Fletcher]], [[Bobby Davro]], [[Tim Vine]], [[John Challis]], [[Brian Blessed]].

Other well-known stars of pantomime include dames like [[Nigel Ellacot]], [[Andy Ryan]], [[Chris Hayward]], [[Kev Johns]], and [[Chris Harris]].  As well as comics like [[Andy Ford]]

*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 and 2009.
*As well as being an actor in the [[Shakespeare]]an tradition, McKellen had become hugely famous with children as [[Gandalf]] in ''[[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|The Lord of the Rings]]'' and [[Magneto (comics)|Magneto]] in ''[[X-Men]]''. "At least we can tell our grandchildren that we saw McKellen's Twankey and it was huge," said [[Michael Billington (critic)|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 opera|soap]] stars, comedians or former sportsmen rather as celebrity attractions, supplemented by jobbing actors and pantomime specialists. 
*[[Christopher Biggins]] was a pantomime dame for 38 consecutive years until 2007 when his participation 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.
*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.

More recently the Australians have been replaced by an influx of American stars like Happy Days star [[Henry Winkler]] and [[Pamela Anderson]].

==Pantomime roles==
===Major roles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  Role
!  Role description
!  Played by
|-
| Principal Boy/Girl
| Main Character in the pantomime
| Man/Woman<small><small><br>In most pantomimes there is a Principal boy played by a woman,<br> 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
|-
| Comic Lead
| Does physical comedy and relates to children in the audience.<br>Often has a phrase he repeats several times and the audience traditionally call out the opposite in response. <br>For example he says "Oh no it isn't",  The audience reply "Oh yes it is".
| Man
|-
| Villain
| The Bad guy of a pantomime
| Man/Woman
|}

===Minor roles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  Role
!  Role description
!  Played by
|-
| Good Fairy
| 
| Woman

|-
| Choir
| 
| 
|-
| Dancers
| 
| Usually a group of Young Boys and Girls 
|}

==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 theatre|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.

*[[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.
*The recently renovated [[Hackney Empire]] has presented an enormously successful and highly regarded panto with multi-racial cast since 1988. 
*York's [[Theatre Royal, York|Theatre Royal]] pantomime features a regular cast headed by [[Berwick Kaler]], who has played the dame there for 30 years.
*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, Borsetshire|Ambridge]] scene.

==Outside the United Kingdom==
===In Australia ===
Pantomimes in Australia at Christmas were once very popular, although the familiarity of young Australians with the genre has declined greatly since the middle of the last century, for all manner of reasons, and it is no longer the force it once was. In the hey-day of Australian Pantomime, professional productions often featured celebrities. During the 1950s, a Christmas ''Cinderella'' pantomime in [[Sydney]] featured [[Danny Kaye]] as [[Buttons (pantomime)|Buttons]]. Radio Christmas pantomimes have been featured on the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].<ref>Several of these are preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, see their catalogue at http://www.nfsa.gov.au/docs/collectionguide_australianradioseries1930-1970.pdf</ref>

''[[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 shown at South Bank Parklands for the Christmas period in 2008. The Parklands will also feature 2009 A Space Oddity in 2009 and Elf-The Musical in 2010. All starring well known Brisbane TV and stage actors.<ref>http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:VOw_nqAbGyQJ:christmascentral.com.au/whats-on-guide/details/18-christmas-pantomime-qtradition-impossibleq.html+%22Tradition+Impossible%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au</ref>

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.<ref>http://www.pantosoc.guild.uwa.edu.au/main.php?id=main</ref>

[[Brisbane Arts Theatre]] has a long tradition of regular Pantomime style children performances Saturday afternoon matinee every week and also as a Tuesdays-Saturday matinee during school holidays.

===IN CAMBODIA ===

The Phnom Penh Players, Cambodia’s most established expat amateur theater group, has been performing a Pantomime each December for fifteen years.  
In 2009 they performed the original pantomime “Snow White and the Jackson 5“ written and directed by Adam Mallord and Zak Kendall.<ref>www.phnompenhplayers.blogspot.com</ref>

===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.

;2009

Royal Canadian Theatre Company headed by Artisitic Director Ellie "Panto Queen" King produces Robin Hood. Ellie has been writing, directing and producing Panto in the Lower Mainland of BC for the past 20 years. Her productions are quintessentially British honouring the form she was trained in since the age of three. 2009's production is Robin Hood starring Alan Cedargreen as Dame Gertie Goodbrew, Michael Roberds (New Addams Family)as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Mandy Tulloch as Robin Hood.

;2009

SPECC-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 respectively. 
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. 

;2009  

The White Rock Players' Club in White Rock, British Columbia has been producing Christmas pantomimes since 1955.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whiterockplayers.ca |title=White Rock Players' Club |publisher=Whiterockplayers.ca |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref>  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.<ref>{{cite web|author=Intrigue Web Design |url=http://www.peelplayers.com |title=Peel Panto Players |publisher=Peelplayers.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref>

Since 1996, [[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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} 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 (franchise)|''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''.

Since 2006, Drayton Entertainment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.draytonentertainment.com |title=Home - Go back to our Home page |publisher=Drayton Entertainment |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> located in [[Ontario]] under the artistic direction of Alex Mustakas, has been offering traditional British Panto at the St. Jacobs Country Playhouse 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 Show''. 

Since 1996, North Vancouver's SMP Dramatic Society<ref>{{cite web|url=http://smpdramatics.com |title=SMP Dramatic Society |publisher=Smpdramatics.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> 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 [[Adaptations of The Wizard of Oz|''The Wizard of Oz'']]).

In [[Victoria, British Columbia]], St. Luke's Players<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stlukesplayers.org |title=St Luke's Players |publisher=Stlukesplayers.org |date=2010-05-24 |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> have been presenting a panto since 2006, although some of its members have been participating in pantos for over 30 years. In 2006, they presented ''Aladdin'', in 2007 it was ''Cinderella'', in 2008 the production was ''Sleeping Beauty''. In 2009, St. Luke's Players is presenting ''Jack and The Beanstalk''.

East End Theatre of [[Ottawa]] 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastendtheatre.com |title=HostMonster.Com: This website is temporarily unavailable |publisher=Eastendtheatre.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref>

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 city of Edmonton, receiving the city's "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.

[[Image:StepSisters1995.jpg|thumb|right| The nasty stepsisters from the Lakeside Players' Christmas 1995 production of Cinderella.]]
The Lakeside Players<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lakesideplayers.com |title=Welcome to The Lakeside Players - The Lakeside Players - Community Theatre Group |publisher=The Lakeside Players |date=2010-05-10 |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> is a non-profit community theatre group formed in January 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, they performed [[Aladdin]] with later 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 cast. The Pantomime animals in our productions have included a dancing Camel, Daisy the Cow, Moosesense, and Priscilla...the goose that lays golden eggs.

A Pantomime has been performed in [[Newmarket, Ontario]] every Christmas since 1978 when the Newmarket Theatre Centre first performed ''Cinderella''. The Newmarket Stage Company has carried on the tradition and they have performed ''Aladdin'', ''Grand Old Duke of York'' and ''Puss-in-Boots'', all at the Old Town Hall theatre in Newmarket.

Peel Panto Players in Brampton has been performing annual Pantos since 1974.

===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.

===In Luxembourg===
In January 2010, a British theatre company is performing [[Aladdin]] at the Chateau Battembourg.

===In Germany===
Chaincourt Theatre Group of Goethe University Frankfurt puts on a pantomime each year.

===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.

===In the Netherlands ===
I.D.E.A (Intl Drama English speaking Associates)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idea-panto.nl |title=The official I.D.E.A. website |publisher=Idea-panto.nl |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> 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 (Anglo-American Theatre Group)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aatg.nl |title=AATG: English Language Theatre in the Hague since 1951 |publisher=Aatg.nl |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> 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.

===In the United States===
Pantomime, as described in this article, is seldom performed in the United States. 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 [[mime artist|solo performance]] such as is as common on [[street performance|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 US. The Piccolo Theatre of [[Evanston, Illinois]], for example, has presented original  holiday pantomimes 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 pantomime ''[[Cinderella]]'' in December 2008, with book and lyrics by Kate Hawley and music by Gregg Coffin.<ref>[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/moms/6153799.html "Preview: Panto Cinderella is a British tradition," Houston Chronicle, December 8, 2008]</ref>  For the 2009 Christmas season, the [[Minneapolis]] Children's Theatre Company staged the same children's classic as a pantomime production.<ref>[http://www.twincities.com/stage/ci_13796272 "Theater review: Children's panto-style 'Cinderella' is frenzied fun for all."  St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 16, 2009]</ref>  In [[West Des Moines, Iowa]], [[The Bakers Dozen]] Mime and Improv Troupe have been performing pantomime since the late 1960s. They put on two official shows a year which are performed to sold out houses. Pantomonium Productions, headed by Christopher Major, has been doing pantomime at various venues in [[New York City]] since 2004. A large percentage of tickets to its productions are distributed to children's charities. The Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society (KATS) of [[Kennett Square, Pennsylvania]] has been producing original pantomimes since 2001.  British born Dr. Gary Smith founded KATS with a group of local friends specifically to perform pantomime, and the January performances have become a local tradition, attracting guests from all over the Mid-Atlantic region.  The Hideout Players in [[Chicago]] have staged original pantomimes since 2006, featuring various English and American amateur actors, including musicians [[Kelly Hogan]], [[Jon Langford]] and [[Sally Timms]] of the [[Mekons]], and a recurring appearance by Moby Duck, the Pantomime Quacking Whale.  Themes have included Vikings, Daleks, Pirates, Darwin and his discovery of the origins of Christmas, and Santa's early life as a Zeppelin Pirate. Theatre Britain has been producing original pantomimes annually in [[Dallas, Texas]] since 2002.<ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_hidethis=no&s_siteloc=&s_issue_id=&s_size=&s_issue=no&s_search_type=&d_datemode=0&d_searched=yes&d_datemode=0&s_dispstring=Review:%20'Sleeping%20Beauty'%20orders%20patrons%20&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(Review:%20'Sleeping%20Beauty'%20orders%20patrons)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no "'Sleeping Beauty' orders patrons to not keep quiet" The Dallas Morning News, December 13, 2002]</ref> The 2009 panto was ''Puss In Boots''<ref>[http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/columnists/nchurnin/stories/DN-pussinboots_1203gd.ART.State.Edition1.4bf801e.html "Theatre Britain's panto 'Puss in Boots' is purrfectly silly fun" The Dallas Morning News, December 3, 2009]</ref>.

====Earliest U.S. productions====
According to Professor Russell A. Peck <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochester.edu/college/eng/faculty/peck.html |title=Department of English |publisher=Rochester.edu |date=2009-10-26 |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> of the [[University of Rochester]], the earliest pantomime productions in the US, were ''Cinderella'' pantomime productions in New York in March 1808, New York again in August 1808, Philadelphia in 1824, and Baltimore in 1839.<ref name="rochester1"/> 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.

===In Spain===
Networks Theatre, a theatre group in Orihuela, (Alicante) made up of predominantly Spanish actors produce a pantomime in English each November. Written and directed by Nick Moore, with costumes and stage design by Dennis Carpenter, they have since 2002 produced Aladdin, Cinderella (twice), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (twice), Dick Whittington, Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol.

==See also==
* [[ITV Panto]]
* [[Mime artist]]

== References ==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
*Broadbent, R.J. ''A History of Pantomime''. London, 1901.

== External links ==
*[http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk/episodes_0018.html MusicalTalk Podcast] discussing British pantomime; its origins and traditions.
*[http://pantomonium.org Pantomonium Productions]
*[http://gaos.ch Geneva Amateur Operatic Society]
*[http://www.pantomimeshows.co.uk Pantomime Shows in UK]
*[http://www.secretpantosociety.com The Secret Pantomime Society]
*[http://www.theatre-britain.com Theatre Britain]⏎
in the 17th century sometimes included the [[Harlequin]] character.<ref>Broadbent, chapter 10</ref> 

===of an English circus and pantomime performance, 1803]]
In the first two decades of the 18th century, two rival London theatres, [[Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre]] and the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] presented productions that began seriously with classical stories that contained elements of opera and ballet and ended with a comic "night scene".  ''Tavern Bilkers'', by [[John Weaver]], the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage.<ref>Broadbent, chapter 14.  Broadbent spends the first half of his book tracing the ancient and European origins of pantomime.</ref>  This production was not a success, and Weaver waited until 1716 to produce his next pantomimes, including ''The Loves of Mars and Venus – a new Entertainment in Dancing after the manner of the Antient Pantomimes''.<ref name=ox/>  The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject of ''[[Andromeda (play)|Perseus and Andromeda]]''.  After this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane.<ref>Broadbent, chapter 14</ref> In 1717 at Lincoln's Inn, actor and manager [[John Rich (producer)|John Rich]] introduced [[Harlequinade#Harlequin|Harlequin]] into the theatres' pantomimes under the name of "Lun" (for "lunatic").<ref name=rich>Dircks, Phyllis T. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/23486 "Rich, John (1692–1761)",] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2011, accessed 21 October 2011</ref>  He gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of ''The Necromancer; or, History of Dr. Faustus''.<ref>Broadbent, chapter 15</ref>

These early pantomimes were silent, or "dumb show", performances consisting of only dancing and gestures.  Spoken drama was only allowed in London in certain "patent theatres" until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843.<ref name="East London Theatre Archive"/>  Moreover, a large number of French performers played in London following the suppression of unlicensed theatres in Paris.<ref name=ox>Mayer, David. [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t177.e2999 "Pantomime, British",] ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance'', Oxford University Press, 2003, accessed 21 October 2011 {{subscription}}</ref> Although this constraint was only temporary, English pantomimes remained primarily visual for some decades before dialogue was introduced.  An 18th-century author wrote of [[David Garrick]]: "He formed a kind of harlequinade, very different from that which is seen at the [[Opéra-Comique]] in Paris, where harlequin and all the characters speak."<ref>Davies, Thomas. ''Memoirs of the life of David Garrick'', New edition, 1780, I. x. 129, ''quoted'' in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> The majority of these early pantomimes were re-tellings of a story from ancient Greek or Roman literature, with a break between the two acts during which the harlequinade's zany comic business, was performed.  The theatre historian David Mayer explains the use of the "batte" or slapstick and the "transformation scene" that led to the harlequinade:
{{quote|Rich gave his Harlequin the power to create stage magic in league with offstage craftsmen who operated trick scenery. Armed with a magic sword or bat (actually a slapstick), Rich's Harlequin treated his weapon as a wand, striking the scenery to sustain the illusion of changing the setting from one locale to another. Objects, too, were transformed by Harlequin's magic bat.<ref name=ox/>|}}

Pantomime gradually became more topical and comic, often involving spectacular and elaborate theatrical effects as far as possible. [[Colley Cibber]], [[David Garrick]] and others competed with Rich and produced their own pantomimes, and pantomime continued to grow in popularity.<ref>Broadbent, chapters 14 and 15</ref>

===19th century===
By the early 1800s, the pantomime's classical stories were often supplanted by stories adapted from European [[fairy tale]]s, classic English literature or [[nursery rhyme]]s.<ref name=ox/>  Also, the [[harlequinade]] had grown in importance until it often was the longest and most important part of the entertainment. Pantomime titles were usually dual titles that gave an often humorous idea of both the pantomime story and the harlequinade. "Harlequin and ________", or "Harlequin _______; or, the ________".  In the second case, harlequin was used as an adjective, followed by words that described the pantomime "opening", for example: ''[[Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren|Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid]]''.  Harlequin was the first word (or the first word after the "or") because Harlequin was initially the most important character.  The titles continued to refer to Harlequin even after the first decade of the 1800s, when [[Joseph Grimaldi]] came to dominate London pantomime and made the character Clown as important in the entertainment as Harlequin.  His performances elevated the role by "acute observation upon the foibles and absurdities of society, and his happy talent of holding them up to ridicule. He is the finest practical satyrist that ever existed. ... He was so extravagantly natural, that the most saturnine looker-on acknowledged his sway; and neither the wise, the proud, or the fair, the young nor the old, were ashamed to laugh till tears coursed down their cheeks at Joe and his comicalities."<ref name=B16>Broadbent, chapter 16</ref>  Grimaldi's performances were important in expanding the importance of the harlequinade until it dominated the pantomime entertainment.<ref name=grimaldi>Moody, Jane. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/11630 "Grimaldi, Joseph (1778–1837)",] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2008, accessed 21 October 2011</ref>

By the 1800s, therefore, children went to the theatre around the Christmas and New Years holiday (and often at Easter or other times) primarily to witness the craziness of the harlequinade chase scene.  It was the most exciting part of the "panto", because it was fast paced and included spectacular scenic magic as well as [[slapstick]] comedy, dancing and acrobatics. The presence of slapstick in this part of the show evolved from the characters found in Italian commedia dell'arte.<ref name=ox/>  The plot of the Harlequinade was relatively simple; the star-crossed lovers, Harlequin and Columbine, run away from Columbine's father, Pantaloon, who is being slowed down in his pursuit of them by his servant, the Clown, and by a bumbling policeman. After the time of Grimaldi, Clown became the principal schemer trying to thwart the lovers, and Pantaloon was merely his assistant.<ref name=grimaldi/> 

The opening "fairy story" was often blended with a story about a love triangle:  a "cross-grained" old father who owns a business has a pretty daughter, who is pursued by two suitors.  The one she loves is poor but worthy, while the father prefers the other, a wealthy fop. Another character is a servant in the father's establishment.  Just as the daughter is to be forcibly wed to the fop, or just as she was about to elope with her lover, the good fairy arrives.<ref name=B16/> This was followed by what was often the most spectacular part of the production, the magical transformation scene.<ref name=wilson/> In early pantomimes, Harlequin possessed magical powers that he used to help himself and his love interest escape. He would tap his wooden sword (a derivative of the Commedia dell'arte slapstick or "batte") on the floor or scenery to make a grand transition of the world around him take place. The scene would switch from being inside some house or castle to, generally speaking, the streets of the town with storefronts as the backdrop.  The transformation sequence was presided over by a Fairy Queen or [[Fairy Godmother]] character.<ref name=ox/> The good fairy magically transformed the leads from the opening fairy story into their new identities as the harlequinade characters. Following is an example of the speech that the fairy would give during this transformation:

<poem>Lovers stand forth. With you we shall begin.
You will be fair Columbine{{spaced ndash}}you Harlequin.
King Jamie there, the bonnie Scottish loon,
Will be a famous cheild for Pantaloon.
Though Guy Fawkes now is saved from rocks and axe,
I think he should pay the powder-tax.
His guyish plots blown up{{spaced ndash}}nay, do not frown;
You've always been a guy{{spaced ndash}}now be a Clown.<ref name=wilson /></poem>

[[File:Dan Leno and Herbert Campbell.jpg|right|thumb|[[Dan Leno]] and [[Herbert Campbell]] in ''[[Babes in the Wood]]'', 1897, at the Drury Lane Theatre]]
This passage is from a pantomime adaptation of the [[Guy Fawkes]] story.  The fairy creates the characters of the harlequinade in the most typical fashion of simply telling the characters what they will change into. The principal male and female characters from the beginning plotline, often both played by young women,<ref name="East London Theatre Archive"/> became the lovers Columbine and Harlequin, the mother or father of Columbine became Pantaloon, and the servant or other comic character became Clown. They would transition into the new characters as the scenery around them changed and would proceed in the "zany fun" section of the performance.<ref name=wilson />  From the time of Grimaldi, Clown would see the transformed setting and cry: "Here We Are Again!"<ref name=grimaldi/> The harlequinade began with various chase scenes, in which Harlequin and Columbine manage to escape from the clutches of Clown and Pantaloon, despite the acrobatic leaps of the former through windows, atop ladders, often because of well-meaning but misguided actions of the policeman.  Eventually, there was a "dark scene", such as a cave or forest, in which the lovers were caught, and Harlequin's magic wand was seized from his grasp by Clown, who would flourished it in triumph. The good fairy would then reappear, and once the father agreed to the marriage of the young lovers, she would transport the whole company to a grand final scene.<ref name=B16/>

This structure of performance was popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries but gradually fell out of style as the pantomime opening became the more popular and pre-eminent part of the production. The love scenes between Harlequin and Columbine dwindled into brief displays of dancing and acrobatics.<ref name=Crowther23/>  As manager of Drury Lane in the 1870s, [[Augustus Harris]] wrote a series of extraordinarily popular pantomimes that formed a part of this transition by emphasizing comic business in the pantomime opening.  By the end of the 19th century, the harlequinade had become merely a brief epilogue to the pantomime. It lingered for a few decades longer but finally disappeared completely in the middle of the 20th century, although a few of its comic elements were incorporated into the pantomime stories.<ref name=cox>Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found (eds). [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t79.e1417 "Harlequinade",] ''The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre'', Oxford Reference Online, Oxford University Press, 1996, accessed 21 October 2011 {{subscription}}</ref>

==Modern pantomime traditions and conventions==
Traditionally performed at [[Christmas]], with family audiences, [[United Kingdom|British]] pantomime continues as a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, [[slapstick]], [[cross-dressing]], in-jokes, topical references, audience participation, and mild [[sexual innuendo]].

===Traditional stories===
Pantomime story lines and scripts usually make no direct reference to Christmas, and are almost always based on traditional children's stories.  Classic pantomime stories include ''[[Cinderella]]'', ''[[Aladdin]]'', ''[[Dick Whittington and His Cat]]'' and ''[[Jack and the Beanstalk]]''. These four (with occasional productions based on the stories of ''[[Peter Pan]]'', ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]])'' tend to constitute the majority of "big" productions staged by major theatres.{{cn|date=February 2013}}

Smaller theatres and amateur companies sometimes perform a wider range of stories, but they still tend to keep within a relatively narrow range, mostly based on the [[fairy tales]] of [[Charles Perrault]], [[Joseph Jacobs]], [[Hans Christian Andersen]], and the [[Grimm Brothers]].

While the familiarity of the audience with the original story is generally assumed, plot lines are almost always 'adapted' for comic or satirical effect, it being common for characters and situations from other stories to be interpolated into the plot. For instance "panto" versions of ''Aladdin'' may include elements from ''[[Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves]]'' or other ''[[One Thousand and One Nights|Arabian Nights]]'' tales; while ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' might include references to nursery rhymes and other children's stories involving characters called "Jack", such as ''[[Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill]]'' 

Certain familiar scenes tend to recur, regardless of plot relevance, and [[Deus ex machina|highly unlikely resolution of the plot]] is common. Straight retellings of the original stories are rare.

===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. Some of these conventions were once common to other genres of popular theatre such as [[melodrama]].
*The leading male juvenile character (the [[principal boy]]) is traditionally played by a young woman, usually in tight-fitting male garments (such as [[breeches]]) that make her female charms evident.
*An older woman (the [[pantomime dame]]{{spaced ndash}}often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man in [[drag (clothing)|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 and is for the entertainment of the adults.
*[[Audience participation]], including calls of "He's behind you!" (or "Look behind you!"), and "Oh, yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always encouraged to hiss the villain and "awwwww" the poor victims, such as the rejected dame, who is usually enamoured with the prince.  
*Music may be original but is more likely to combine well-known tunes with [[parody music|re-written lyrics]]. At least one "audience participation" song is traditional: one half of the audience may be challenged to sing "their" chorus louder than the other half. Children in the audience may even be invited on stage to sing along with members of the cast.
*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 enters from stage right (from the audience's point of view this is on the left) and the villain enters from stage left (right from the point of view of the audience). This convention goes back to the medieval mystery plays, where the right side of the stage symbolised Heaven and the left side symbolised Hell.
*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.<ref name=Crowther23/>
* The Chorus, who can be considered [[Extra (actor)|extras]] on-stage, and often appear in multiple scenes (but as different characters) and who perform a variety of songs and dances throughout the show. Due to their multiple roles they may have as much stage-time as the lead characters themselves.

===Guest celebrity===
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 [[Drury Lane|Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]], hired well-known variety artists for his pantomimes.

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. As critic [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] has explained, if the star enters into the spirit of the entertainment, he or she can add to its overall effect, while if it becomes a "showcase for a star" who "stands outside the action", the celebrity's presence can detract, notwithstanding the marketing advantage that the star brings to the piece.<ref name=Nifty>Billington, Michael. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2004/dec/20/theatre.shopping1 "''Aladdin'': Old Vic, London"], ''The Guardian'', 20 December 2004</ref>  Billington said that [[Ian McKellen]] in a 2004 ''Aladdin'' "lets down his hair and lifts up his skirt to reveal a nifty pair of legs and an appetite for ''double entendre'': when told by decorators that 'your front porch could do with a good lick', McKellen adopts a suitable look of mock-outrage. ... At least we can tell our grandchildren that we saw McKellen's Twankey and it was huge."<ref name=Nifty/>

==Pantomime roles==
===Major roles===
The main roles within pantomime are often gender-swapped, and can be played by either sex:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  Role
!  Role description
!  Played by
|-
| Principal Boy or Girl
| Main character in the pantomime
| Traditionally a young woman in "male" attire
|-
| Panto Dame
| Normally the hero's mother
| Traditionally a middle aged man in drag
|-
| Co-Principal Boy or Girl
| Normally the hero's love interest
| Woman
|-
| Comic Lead
| Does physical comedy and relates to children in the audience.<br>Often has a phrase he repeats several times and the audience traditionally call out the opposite in response.<br>For example he says "Oh no it isn't." The audience replies "Oh yes it is."
| Man
|-
| Villain
| The pantomime [[antagonist]]. Often a wicked wizard or witch.
| Man or woman
|}

===Minor roles===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!  Role
!  Role description
!  Played by
|-
| Good fairy or Wise woman
| Usual role is to help (traditionally silly) hero defeat (much more intelligent) villain. Often has a role in the resolution of the plot
| Woman (or Man in drag)
|-
| Animals, etc.
| e.g. Jack's cow
| "[[Pantomime horse]]" or [[puppet]](s)
|-
| Chorus
| Members often have several minor roles
| 
|-
| Dancers
| 
| Usually a group of young boys and girls 
|}

==Places performed==
[[File:Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret starring in wartime Aladdin, 1943. (7936243828).jpg|right|thumb|Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in a Windsor Castle wartime production of ''Aladdin'']]
Modern pantomime is performed in the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Canada]], [[Zimbabwe]], [[Jamaica]], [[South Africa]], [[India]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Gibraltar]], and [[Republic of Malta|Malta]], mostly during the Christmas and New Year season.<ref>[[Chris Roberts (author)|Chris Roberts]], Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press, 2006 (ISBN 0786285176)</ref>

===United Kingdom and Ireland===
Many theatres in cities and towns throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland continue to have an annual professional pantomime. Pantomime is also very popular with [[amateur theatre|amateur dramatics]] societies throughout the UK and Ireland, and the pantomime season (roughly speaking, December to February) will see pantomime productions in many village halls and similar venues across the country.

===In Australia===
Pantomimes in Australia at Christmas were once very popular, but the genre has declined greatly since the middle of the 20th century.{{cn|date=October 2013}}

===In Canada===
Christmas pantomimes have been performed in Canada for as many years as they have in the UK.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

===In the United States===
{{Main|American pantomime}}
Pantomime has seldom been performed in the United States, although a few productions have been mounted in recent years.  As a consequence, Americans commonly understand the word "pantomime" to refer to the art of mime as it was practised, for example, by [[Marcel Marceau]] and [[Nola Rae]]. However, certain shows that came from the pantomime traditions, especially ''[[Peter and Wendy|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.{{cn|date=February 2013}}

According to Professor Russell A. Peck of the [[University of Rochester]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochester.edu/college/eng/faculty/peck.html |title=Department of English |publisher=Rochester.edu |date=2009-10-26 |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref> the earliest pantomime productions in the US were ''Cinderella'' pantomime productions in New York in March 1808, New York again in August 1808, Philadelphia in 1824, and Baltimore in 1839.<ref name="rochester1"/>  A production at Olympic Theatre in New York of ''Humpty Dumpty'' ran for over 1,200 performances in 1868, becoming one of the most successful American pantomimes.<ref>[http://www.its-behind-you.com/Factsheets/The%20History%20of%20Pantomime.pdf "The History of Pantomime"], It's-Behind-You.com, 2002, accessed 10 February 2013</ref>

In 1993 there was a production of ''Cinderella'' at the [[UCLA]] Freud Theatre, starring [[Zsa Zsa Gabor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-12-14/entertainment/ca-1592_1_zsa-zsa-gabor |title=Zsa Zsa Gabor in Panto ''Cinderella'' |publisher=LA Times |date=1993-12-14}}</ref>  Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, Texas, has been performing original pantomime-style musicals during the Christmas holidays since 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.broadwayworld.com/houston/article/BWW-Reviews-Stages-PANTO-MOTHER-GOOSE-A-Big-Golden-Goose-Egg-of-a-Theatrical-Treat-20121127 |title=Stages' Panto Mother Goose |publisher=broadwayworld.com |date=2012-11-27}}; {{cite web |url= http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Preview-Panto-Cinderella-is-a-British-tradition-1608217.php |title=Preview: Panto Cinderella is a British Tradition |publisher=Houston Chronicle |date=2008-12-08}}; {{cite web |url= http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/REVIEW-Panto-brings-Texas-laughs-to-British-genre-1732573.php |title=Panto Bring Texas Laughs to British Genre |publisher=Houston Chronicle |date=2009-11-09}}; {{cite web |url= http://houston.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/11-22-09-stages-on-panto/ |title=Panto Mine: A New Holiday Tradition Takes Hold in Houston |publisher=CultureMap |date=2009-12-10}} </ref> Lythgoe Family Productions has produced pantomimes each winter since 2010 in California.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/article/Lythgoe_Family_Productions_Presents_CINDERELLA_11271219_20100928# |title=Lythgoe Family Productions Presents CINDERELLA, 11/27-12/19 |publisher=broadwayworld.com |date=2010-09-28}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.british-weekly.com/?p=8110 |title=Panto Baby: ''A Snow White Christmas'' opens Nov. 30th |publisher=British Weekly |date=2011-11-26}}; {{cite web |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/12/theater-review-cinderella-christmas-el-portal.html |title=Theater review: ''Cinderella Christmas'' at the El Portal |publisher=LA Times |date=2011-12-23}}; {{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/11/entertainment/la-et-cm-lythgoe-panto-snow-white-christmas-20121211 |title=''A Snow White Christmas'' puts Southern California imprint on British theater tradition |publisher=LA Times |date=2012-12-11}}; and {{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-pasadena-playhouse-mike-stoller-20130123,0,613456.story |title=Pasadena Playhouse Mike Stoller and wife gave crucial $1 million |publisher=LA Times |date=2013-1-23}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[ITV Panto]]
*[[Mime artist]]
*[[Mummers Play]]
*[[Victorian burlesque]]
*[[Weihnachtsmärchen]] (Christmas fairy tale)

==References==
<!--- See [[Wikipedia:Footnotes]] on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags which will then appear here automatically -->
{{reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=Crowther23>Crowther, Andrew. "Clown and Harlequin", ''W. S. Gilbert Society Journal'', vol. 3, issue 23, Summer 2008, pp. 710–12</ref>

<ref name="East London Theatre Archive">{{cite web|last=Haill|first=Catherine|title=Pantomime|url=http://www.elta-project.org/theme-panto.html|publisher=University of East London|accessdate=17 Jan. 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="rochester1">{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.rochester.edu/CAMELOT/cinder/cin8.htm |title=Pantomime, Burlesque, and Children's Drama |publisher=Lib.rochester.edu |date= |accessdate=2010-06-10}}</ref>

<ref name=wilson>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=A. E.|title=The story of pantomime|year=1974|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc|location=|isbn=0-87471-485-0}}</ref>
}}

===Sources===
* Wilson, A. E., "The Story of Pantomime" (London: Home & Van Thal, 1949).
* Eigner, Edwin M., "The Dickens Pantomime" (Berkeley: University of California, 1989).
* Broadbent, R.J., [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13469/13469-8.txt ''A History of Pantomime''] (London, 1901).
* M.-H. Garelli, ''Danser le mythe. La pantomime et sa réception dans la culture antique'' (Louvain 2007).
* E. Hall, R. Wyles, edd., ''New Directions in Ancient Pantomime'' (Oxford 2008).

==External links==
{{commonscat|Pantomime (musical comedy)|Pantomime}}
*[http://www.musicaltalk.co.uk/episodes_0018.html MusicalTalk Podcast] discussing British pantomime, its origins and traditions.
*[http://pantomonium.org Pantomonium Productions]
*[http://gaos.ch Geneva Amateur Operatic Society]
*[http://www.pantomimeshows.co.uk Pantomime Shows in UK]
*[http://www.secretpantosociety.com The Secret Pantomime Society]
*[http://www.theatre-britain.com Theatre Britain]
*[http://www.madridplayers.org Madrid Players]
*[http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/showbiz/2010/12/22/panto-in-wales-seen-through-american-eyes-91466-27865262/ Panto in Wales seen through American eyes]
*[http://www.elta-project.org/theme-panto.html "Pantomime"] by Catherine Haill, V & A
*[http://www.its-behind-you.com/dailymail.html "The Rise and Fall of the Pantomime Harlequinade"]
*[http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/pantomime-origins/ The origin of popular pantomime stories]
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[[Category:Pantomime| Pantomime]]
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