Pantomime is a very British style of theatre - in fact you could almost call it an institution.
Wherever the Brits have travelled pantomime has followed in their wake, so that it can be found in places like Australia and South Africa as well as countries where there is a lively expat community such as the USA.
These plays pull together music, dance, comedy and acting in a unique way that only the bonkers British could ever have done.
But where does it come from? What are its roots? Why has it become such a popular tradition? This is the story of British Pantomime.
A Foreign Import Whilst pantomime is a very British institution, its roots are actually to be found in 16th century Italy.
During that period in Italy, there developed theatrical productions called "Commedia dell arte".
These contained the basis of modern pantomime stories with old, disreputable men, servants who tried and eventually got the better of their master and young lovers who se families thought them socially incompatible and would not let them marry.
Slowly a clown character (Punchinello) also made an appearance.
The seeds of modern pantomime had been sown.
Theatre knows no boundaries and these commedia dell arte plays rapidly moved across Europe, finally arriving in Britain.
Whilst the British enjoyed the general plots they fell in love with the clown character.
Soon called Harlequin - wearing a checked costume rather like a jester - this clown helped the plays changed course into more of a comedy routine called "Harlequinades.
" Adaptation for British Audiences By the 1720's John Rich, of Lincolns Field, London, was producing incredibly popular Harlequinades involving Harlequin and his fellow servant, Columbine, being involved in a series of mad-cap chases, and sharing the stage with animals, including a camel.
So the roots of the pantomime horse costumes can be found in John Rich's productions nearly 300 years ago.
The Harlequin was given a stick to hit whenever scenery changes or sound effects were needed.
Soon he was using this "slap stick" to signal for sound effects when he did something funny.
Slapstick comedy had entered the English vocabulary and pantomime lore.
To this day, the joker character in pantomime will get a drum roll and cymbal crash when he tells a joke, even though he has not had to use his slapstick to get that effect.
Like all success stories, others wanted to get in on the act.
David Garrick wanted a piece of the action and started to produce his rival plays.
Garrick, however, reserved these Harlequinades for the Christmas period where he felt that their natural frivolity was more suited for this fun festival.
Another pantomime tradition had been born - panto at Christmas.
Did you know that until 1843 not all theatres could stage productions using words? Yes as bizarre as it sounds, only certain British theatres were allowed "talkie" plays.
Harlequinades were principally mime, dance and singing and hence get around that ruling.
An Act of Parliament changed all of that with the result that any theatre could put on any play, and they could use as many words as they wanted.
Suddenly, the Harlequinades could use words and scripts were needed.
Pantomime Story Lines But what story lines could these shows have? The easiest thing was to tell stories that already existed and the easiest stories were the ones that everyone knew from their childhoods.
Pantomime had its first story lines in Cinderella and Mother Goose.
The other stories that the audience knew were folklore stories and soon plays based upon Dick Whittington, Jack and The Beanstalk (originally called Jack the Giant Slayer) and Babes in the Wood were being produced too.
Some pantomimes were based upon popular story books such as Robinson Crusoe and The Arabian Nights (for instance Aladdin, Sinbad, and Ali Baba).
The greatest 19th century pantomime writers were H.
J.
Byron and J.
R.
Planche.
They introduced puns and word plays into their pantomime scripts - something still central to most pantos.
They also introduced the Ugly Sisters and Buttons as characters in Cinderella.
Amongst their scripts which are still popular are Sleeping Beauty and Puss in Boots.
The amazing thing is that these 19th century plays are still the classic, most popular pantomimes.
Some like Robinson Crusoe and Sinbad have faded from view whilst others such as Peter Pan and Snow White and The Seven Dwarves have become popular since the release of J.
M.
Barries classic book and the Disney film in the 1930's respectively.
But if you were to ask the British public to name some pantomimes they would name the same ones that their Victorian ancestors were watching - Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, Jack and The Beanstalk...
Pantomime became a huge success.
The productions by Augustus Harris in Drury Lane involved casts 500 strong and were fronted by the biggest music hall stars of the day, people like Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd.
Once again this use of music hall stars increased pantomimes popularity with ordinary working people.
Pantomime made celebrities of its stars.
The earliest was Joseph Grimaldi, possibly the most famous pantomime clown in British history.
Dames and Principal Boys Another of the great pantomime stars was Dan Leno (1860 - 1904).
A Music Hall star in his own right, Leno made the Dame a "must have" character in pantomimes.
His interpretation of the Dame as a woman facing adversity with fun became immensely popular and the situations that the Dame found herself in (poverty, abandonment, unemployment) resonated with Victorian audiences.
If men dressing up as Panto Dames is very much a pantomime tradition.
Another is the Principal Boy being played by a woman.
Men dressing up as girls had been around since the time of William Shakespeare but women appearing as boys caused a bit of a stir in prim and proper Victorian Britain.
We all know the Best Boy coming on in a short tunic, wearing tights and slapping her thighs and think nothing of it.
But in an age when women did not even show off their ankle this was racy stuff indeed (and, probably for a lot of the men in the audience very popular too!).
Pantomime - A Commercial & Cultural Success Pantomime was big business.
Every theatre, in every town, staged an annual pantomime.
Their importance can be seen when Aladdin was the second performance staged at the brand new Lyceum Theatre in provincial Crewe (1882).
The Lyceum owners knew that if you wanted "bums on seats" and pay back your investment quickly you could not go wrong with pantomime.
That popularity continues to this day.
Whether it is a big city theatre running a show for several months with stars from TV soap operas and other celebrities down to a village hall production staged by youth groups (like the Young Christians Panto in Bunbury) or the slightly blue versions at Rugby clubs (yes, Chester RFC I am thinking about you!), pantomime remains immensely popular and part of our culture.
Phrases like "Oh No It Isn't" and "He's behind you", along with a drum roll and cymbal sound when telling a quick joke or one-liner have entered popular vocabulary and culture.
I think that this traditional panto song sums it all up really: "PANTOMIME PANTOMIME What a thrill, what a time! Where all the world its cares can leave, in the land of make-believe Pantomime, Pantomime, Music plays, keep in time With ev'ry heart that knows the score and we're all just kids once more With knaves and princes, dames and clowns, all seeking crowns of gold Through tears and laughter after all, a happy ending to behold Pantomime, Pantomime, on it goes, so sublime It's entertainment's greatest show, So! Long Live Pantomime!" Conclusion Pantomime has come a long way over the years.
From Italian import to quirky British institution.
It has challenged social boundaries with women playing best boys and blurred them a bit with middle aged men dressing up as dames.
It draws on the stories our childhood and on British folklore.
Its harmless, fun filled antics charm people of all ages.
It provides a social focus for communities and clubs.
It continues to be a Christmas tradition for so many of us.
It is about as British as Fish and Chips.
It is something that defines us in this ever more blurred world.
Long may it continue.
It's entertainment's greatest show, So! Long Live Pantomime!"