insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 20 - October 2016 | Page 24

Is there anything more eccentrically British than the good old pantomime ? With its dames and principal boys , its musical numbers and dance routines , its silly , funny catchphrases , the panto is a thigh-slapping , audience-participating event that millions of us enjoy every Christmas time .
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2016 SUSSEX PANTOMIMES

Is there anything more eccentrically British than the good old pantomime ? With its dames and principal boys , its musical numbers and dance routines , its silly , funny catchphrases , the panto is a thigh-slapping , audience-participating event that millions of us enjoy every Christmas time .

So would it surprise you to discover that this ‘ British institution ’ is , in fact , not British at all ?
Pantomime originated in Italy in the 16th century , and many of the elements that we know and love today were evident in what was then called the Commedia dell ’ arte street theatre . It was just as vulgar , just as bawdy , just as funny , and just as physical as the panto is today .
Throughout the 1500s , small touring companies took these loud , lewd plays throughout Italy and France – they made for the big marketplaces and important annual fairs , and the stories revolved around the same characters : Pantalone ( the old man ), Pierrot ( the clown ), Columbine ( the heroine ) and Arlecchino ( the servant ).
As their popularity increased , the stories made their way over to England in the early 1600s . It was entrepreneur , playwright , director and producer John Rich who saw just how exciting ( and lucrative !) these characters and stories could be , and it was he who took the traditional Commedia dell ’ arte and turned it into the Harlequinades , the forerunner to the pantomime we know today . He changed a few things as he went – Arlecchino the servant became Harlequin the magician , and a new level of fun was created .
By the time the Victorians established their traditional , big Christmas celebrations , the pantomime had become an important part of it all . Stories evolved to be ( for the most part ) fairy tales with familiar characters , and it was all rather naughty , albeit in a safe , permitted kind of way .
Where else would a Victorian gentleman see a lady ’ s ankle – and leg , come to that – but at the pantomime , thanks to the principal boy and her skimpy costume ? Where else could rude jokes be made in such good spirits that wouldn ’ t offend anyone present ? Where else could an audience shout and stamp their feet and sing along and not only be allowed to , but expected to make a ruckus ?
It could only be the pantomime .
Today the annual outing to the pantomime is just as much something to look forward to as it always was – and it is the ideal way to introduce young children to the theatre , giving them a magical experience that they will never forget .
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