How British Pantomime Became Such a Holiday Tradition
Not to like pantomime, the journalist Leigh Hunt declared, is not to like love: pantomime is a curious blend of continental and British traditions. The raw energy of music hall, the sauciness of Victorian burlesque, the crazy chase of the harlequinade, the acrobatic power of John Rich, the archetypal plots of commedia. All these elements have shaped the pantomimes we enjoy today. The story of pantomime is a story of transformation and endless adaptation. Professor Jane Moody. Read more.
Happy holidays, and here’s your guide to the art of the English pantomime (Panto). First, it’s nothing to do with Mime (i.e. creepy people silently trying to escape imaginary cubes)—although it may share some of the same roots.
Panto is performed in everything from top city theaters to village halls in British-speaking communities worldwide. They’re family shows built around a familiar story featuring song, dance, political satire and commentary, audience participation, and lashings of double-entendres (which the kids aren’t supposed to understand). They are not at all PC. And, oh yes, The cross-dressing. Remember:
