It features men dressed as women, and women masquerading as young men. Again, pantomime seems to embody the spirit of the age, this time in more political terms. The same “formula” for those productions are the same for British pantomime: The main male role is often played by a woman. ', • Beauty and the Beast, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, until January 15, various times and prices, £26.50-£8.50, 01284 769505, www.theatreroyal.org. Out goes the old costume, and the Clown’s familiar role as a stupid, loutish feed for Harlequin's magic. She said: 'I know many theatres will say we can't survive without the panto, but for us that really is the case. So how did pantomime work its way into British theatre? Amazing transformations happened at the touch of Harlequin’s magic wand, with mechanical serpents and flying vehicles. Eamonn loves the interaction with an audience. So you have the big scene when you first come on, but, for the rest of the show, it's striking a balance between being part of the story and maintaining that conversation with the audience. Some panto stars have whole routines that they need to shoehorn in but I am much more interested in being part of the ensemble. It requires different skills and a different tone. In comes a character with white face and red cheeks; a pie-crust frill and baggy trousers; a cavernous mouth, and an elastic, intensely expressive face. See more ideas about pantomime, dame, costumes. Leno created a Dame whose theatrical power comes from the locking together of our sympathy and our laughter. The phrase means ‘comedy of the artists’ and these improvised performances took place outside in Italian streets and marketplaces. It has its roots in ancient Greece, and via Italy and France, insinuates itself into Britain. It is these rules and the interpretation of those rules which determine not only whether an actor enjoys his time in skirts but whether or not he becomes one of the great Dames of the theatre. 'Of course, you can talk to them directly, but it doesn't have to be as bold as that. It isn’t just about clothing. His baptism of fire, his primary education in Dame School, was at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich two years ago, where he played Dame for the first time. Many commedia plots show the zanni outwitting the vecchi or overthrowing their masters. 'The secret is that we are all in this together and we all want it to be fun. Christmas, for many of us, would not be Christmas without pantomime; and pantomime was the place we first discovered the magic of theatre. A rough, uneducated man called John Rich played a key role in the emergence of pantomime. At the end of the 19th century, Britain is now a major imperial power. The not-so-subtle art of being a panto dame. Bury Theatre Royal relies on the significant income the panto generates, with Karen Simpson claiming without the family favourite production, the theatre would not survive. The harlequinade has mysteriously disappeared, a casualty of respectability. The history of pantomime. But how could Garrick cash in on the craze and still maintain his position as the defender of 'legitimate' theatre? Eamonn Fleming and Helen Slade preparing for some panto fun in Beauty and the Beast at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds. Katie Brennan explains the top ten things to spot at panto - tick them off when you've spotted them! It is hard to overstate the importance of the pantomime, which is why we start planning it around 15 months before it starts. Our industry faces testing times, which is why we're asking for your support. They spoke in a form of inconsequential chatter. They tell a story about survival against the odds. The dwarfs in the panto were puppets and they all had different types of accents. Pantomime has become quintessentially British: as British as Earl Grey tea or a good Indian curry. It’s the age of Regency: Britain is at war with France; there’s intense social unrest and violent confrontations between the government and the people. What he brought to the Dame was a talent for impersonating the absurd dilemmas of ordinary people, from waiters and railway guards to downtrodden women. We now reach the end of the 18th century; the moment when the modern Clown really arrives. Panto is a broad style of entertainment that emphasises audience participation, with much warning of the hero by the audience shouting “he’s behind you” and so on The whole thing is supported by songs and music and dressed to look spectacular. Every contribution will help us continue to produce local journalism that makes a measurable difference to our community. Each year 55,000 people of all ages come to the York Theatre Royal to see a cast headed by Berwick Kaler (right) who has played the dame for more than 30 years. Audiences were thrilled by his mischief and his endless eating precisely because he created on stage the fantasy of a different world: a world without hunger, a world of comic revenge against a highly repressive government. In doing so, of course, Garrick created a convention which has survived to this day. 'We'd run stuff – he'd throw some stuff away; like other stuff – and we shaped it together. 'I love the fact that the Theatre Royal delivers a genuine family show. But at the same time, music hall artists such as Leno were infusing pantomime with the plots and dilemmas of working-class culture. Travelling from place to place to earn their living, these actors began to take commedia across Europe. - Credit: Archant. Button’s comic routines and the Dame’s glorious absurdity have their theatrical roots in Grimaldi’s clown. Lots of audience participation When you go to a panto in Britain, you can't help but be drawn into the traditional shouting and carrying on. 'Panto isn't just running about and falling over. Like the commedia's Arlecchino, this Harlequin displayed extraordinary physical agility, and elemental desires for food, drink and sex. Photography has arrived, the telegraph has just been invented, the first motor cars are starting to appear on British streets. This year I am starring as the hilarious Widow Twankey in Aladdin, at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley. Thousands of people, from aristocrats to apprentices, patronised theatres in London every night; by mid-century, theatres were being built in towns and cities across Britain. But what distinguishes gender-bending in pantomime is the mock-seriousness which emerges in Victorian burlesque theatre. Leno’s Dames, played with an evocative Irish lilt, were down to characters. Slowly, he began to domesticate the Dame and to imagine her as a mother, facing problems which he and his audiences knew all too well: poverty, unemployment and abandonment. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting butch in women's clothing. Serve up the cat for lunch.". The people of west Suffolk are being urged to back their historic theatre this festive season by attending the annual pantomime. 1. They want to laugh, they want to have a sing-song, they want to boo the villain, and you have to work really hard to mess that up. So read on and you'll soon find yourself a certified panto aficionado when you take your seats for Dick Whittington … The role of the dame is to play a warm, matronly character or a wicked antagonist whose main purpose is to get the audience participating. It’s Behind You. Commedia was a versatile, popular and influential art form. ‘It’s’ can be replaced with personal pronouns like ‘he’ or ‘she’. 'I was lucky in that Rob Salmon at The New Wolsey, my first director in panto, encouraged me to just run with it. Audiences loved this hilarious piece of quickfire patter which ended with the Queen’s exquisitely logical solution, "well: there's only one thing we can eat. How did pantomime come to be the form of entertainment it is today? Usually the father wants his daughter to wed a rich elderly man whom she despises. Panto has a bumper year! She’s behind you! What British pantomime will learn from commedia is the fun of witnessing the triumph of the underdog. The Clown is changing out of all recognition. Pantomime has become a major visitor attraction in its own right. 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. The fat clever Pulchinella is the forefather of Mr Punch in Punch and Judy shows; the sly amoral Arlecchino will later become the magical English Harlequin. The curtain has just fallen on the evening’s performance, and years of bitterness, jealousy and grudges boil over, threatening to end the relationship, both on and offstage. Grimaldi became one of the most famous characters in Regency London. Rich’s pantomimes cleverly fused commedia, spectacle, music, ballet and myth. It was Leno who introduced into the traditional quest narratives of Humpty Dumpty and Aladdin a deeply human figure who has since become one of the most eccentric character in British culture. Pantomime has always been fascinated by the crossing or transgression of boundaries: the pleasurable ambiguity of men dressed up as women, and the fun of animals played by human beings. At a time of war, Grimaldi’s hilarious antics embodied the freedom and liberty of British culture by contrast with our dull, humourless despotic enemies, the French. It makes the theatre truly part of the town it serves. It's behind you! The centre of comic gravity is certainly shifting: away from the Clown and toward an unexpected star: a careworn mother, haggard and a bit of a gossip, struggling to cope in this unfriendly world. She presides over the anarchy which Grimaldi once visited on policemen. Just like Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, Leno revelled in the ludicrous logic of nonsense. Picture: Keith Mindham I love the fact that you have talented members of the community rehearsing, coming up on stage and being part of the pantomime. Pantomime offers us the anarchic excitements of a topsy-turvy world only to give us the assurance of harmony restored. ', Although, as with any play, the script is king, the part of the Dame leaves room for the actor to put their particular stamp on the part. The zannis are full of cunning, ingenuity, and quick-wittedness. Set in the depths of Beastly St Edmunds, the story of Beauty and the Beast is brought to life in the latest seasonal show at Bury Theatre Royal. It's a splendid witticism, albeit untrue. And will love conquer all? According to writer and caricaturist Max Beerbohm, pantomime is the only art form ever invented in England. Another phrase, chanted most enthusiastically by younger audience members, is the old chestnut “it’s behind you”. Pantomime has become quintessentially British: as British as Earl Grey tea or a good Indian curry. What emerged was a lovelorn older woman, facing adversity with a kind of desperate fun. We are always nervous before we get underway, as getting the pantomime right is key to the theatre, not just the success of the panto. Enlarge to check out the London landmarks! It would be very hard, if not impossible, to run the theatre without the income from the pantomime. Having a good director helps enormously. However, the hero will turn the wrong way to find the villain, meaning that the chase continues. Centuries later, commedia's stylised masks and anarchic energy shaped the visual and musical worlds of artists and composers from Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Braque and Picasso to David Hockney. The strange key to Leno's success - and to the character of the Dame ever since - was his creation of a credible woman whom everyone knows is being played by a man. The great thing about Bury pantomime is that the laughs can come from anywhere. Picture: Bill Jackson Jack and the Beanstalk, the Pantomime. But the Dame also embodies the collective ties which bind us together as families, as neighbours, and as citizens of a particular town or city. I knew I wanted to try it, but was terrified all the same. It is part of the theatrical tradition of travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. But it's not just an act, like it is with stand-up. "If they won’t come to Lear and Hamlet", he said, "I must give them Harlequin". Why were US fighter jets circling off the coast of Norfolk? What is it that attracts us - young and old - to this bizarre medley of fairy tale, dance, jokes and song? Bury Theatre Royal's Beauty and the Beast star Eamonn Fleming is a great believer that it's never too late to learn a new skill, including being a panto dame. The Dame is that direct connection with the audience. We have a great cast and everyone is funny. We know, for example, that these performers visited England on several occasions; British and European playwrights from Shakespeare and Lope de Vega to Moliere would all draw on commedia characters and traditions. The Ipswich show, the rock'n'roll pantomime, was very slick. Pantomime (or just “panto”) gets its roots from 15th and 16th-century traditions of Commedia dell Arte, an early form of Italian theatre. Pantomime's absurdity depends on us enjoying this non-existent pretence. 'You are the bridge between the stage and the auditorium. Andrew Clarke Published: 2:50 PM December 30, 2016 Updated: 2:53 PM October 10, 2020. Apprentices, merchants and aristocrats were all fascinated by him. This newspaper has been a central part of community life for many years. In Humpty Dumpty, Leno played a debt-ridden Queen who is running out of lunch options: the cook baldly declares that she’s donated not just the cold beef but the King’s brace of pheasants, the fish and the pickled pork all to the royal cat. Dames had existed in pantomime before Leno, but they were usually unbelievable, ridiculous characters. Her comic patter with the audience cuts across the boundaries between performers and spectators, drawing us into her chaotic world. Pantomime self-consciously disorganises the ordinary world and releases us to participate in its magic. The Dame’s absurdly captivating character is the great legacy to modern pantomime left by a remarkable artist of the Victorian music hall. “It’s Behind You” If you have the opportunity to see a pantomime then I would highly recommend it. Our delight in this form comes from a complex mixture of emotions and relationships. I am one of those people who worries about everything. Mar 3, 2015 - Explore AJ Productions's board "Dick Whittington Dame Costumes" on Pinterest. Professor Jane Moody, Director of the Humanities Research Centre and Professor in the Department of English and Related Literature, takes us on a journey through pantomime's colourful history. It becomes the people's theatre, which is what it should be.'. Dec 4, 2014 - Explore PATRICIA BOOTH's board "He's behind you" on Pinterest. - Credit: Photo: Keith Mindham Photography. Grimaldi, the singer of bizarre nonsense songs and the clown of urban life. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Regardless of the show, regardless of the story we are telling. One of their stars is fading, while the other is on the rise. Of course you have; the glamour, the fame, the adoration. David Garrick, the great 18th century actor-manager, was quick to join these critical blasts against his theatrical rival. The pantomime dame being played by a bloke is a tradition that has been going for generations “Huddie” is a delightful guy – and a walking encyclopedia on panto, music hall and old jokes. Critics bitterly attacked pantomimes, complaining that this foreign entertainment threatened the downfall of Shakespeare and the death of serious theatre. Pantomime's history is a story of border crossings, as plots and performers slip across national, linguistic and cultural boundaries. And how did it become part of our Christmas traditions? the art of cross dressing- the Pantomime Dame. She wants warmth and engagement, and the feel of the show depends very much on the director. And of course you can’t be a dame without a name, so check out our panto dame game below to find out yours. Labelled the #PantoParade, arts workers and more travelled across London, posing for photos and astounding the capital's citizens. In York, the pantomime has been an extraordinary success story, the jewel in the city's entertainment crown. After weeks of rehearsal, how can you fail to deliver that? Beneath the manic, shameless energy of this Clown lay sadness, and a life etched by tragedy. Will Beauty overcome her fears? The audience and the character comically share the knowledge that the Dame is not really a woman; that the Principal Boy is not really a Boy. They usually wear heavy make up and big hair, have exaggerated physical features, and perform in an over-the-top style. So what is the ultimate secret of a good Dame? Amongst his roles were Queen Rondabellyana in "Harlequin and the red dwarf", and Dame Cecily Suet in "Harlequin Whittington". A small thin man, with an odd wistful face, and a husky voice, he was said to have 'the saddest eyes in the world'. Born into an immigrant family, Grimaldi was on stage before he was three, and the family breadwinner seven years later. One of. After scaling Jack and the Beanstalk last year, Chris Hannon returned to pen another journey of enchantment and magic in this traditional family panto staging of the classic fable, again overseen by Theatre Royal's director Karen Simpson. When I first went up for the role of Dame I was terrified. He was a melancholy man who suffered paralysing periods of hereditary madness. The panto as we know it first started life not in Britain, as may be expected, but on the streets of 16th Century Italy in a tradition known as Commedia dell’arte. We're behind you! Part-diva, part-standup, part-joker, part-fool, the Dame is the strongest link between the audience and the actors onstage. A pantomime dame will also often perform in an exaggerated, melodramatic, manner. The audience and the character comically share the knowledge that the Dame is not really a woman; that the Principal Boy is not really a Boy. Pantomimes became associated with the fun and frivolity of the holiday season rather than being denounced as a threat. It’s behind you! Spectators rushed to the box office and crammed themselves into theatres to enjoy his latest show. Our story begins with the commedia dell'arte tradition. 'The thing that I am learning, more than anything else, is that you have to keep the audience involved in the conversation. Everything about a pantomime dame is BIG. A particular style of panto has emerged, helped by the long service of pantomime dame Steve Bennett. December 9, 2013. One of the most well known of pantomime traditions is a … It was not long before the grimness started to take over. 'Learning to relax into the part. But it's the expectation that's the really frightening thing, not the doing. 'It accounts for around a third of our funding. Perhaps that sadness was what attracted him, both in costume and in temperament, to Pierrot, the broken-hearted French Clown. Certainly Grimaldi liked to play on this mixture of light and darkness in his character, telling his audiences, ‘I am Grim all day, but I make you laugh at night’. His women were intensely human characters, living in a chaotic world full of disastrous mishaps. The Dame exemplifies pantomime's self-proclaimed absurdity. Pantomimes are normally associated with lots of humour and funny jokes, so that’s where the similarity might end. This link with the audience means the role of the Dame is not the same as stand-up. Characters - one point for each of these. It was Leno who introduced into the traditional quest narratives of Humpty Dumpty and Aladdin a deeply human figure who … In the 1880s, Leno started playing roles like the Queen in Humpty Dumpty, or Widow Twankey in Aladdin. 'It's also important to remember that the audience are coming along for a good time. The atmosphere and the character of the show change with each theatre and each cast. Last year his secondary education was received in City Varieties in Leeds and this year he graduates from Dame university in Bury St Edmunds playing Molly Muffintop in Beauty and the Beast. So Leno’s Dame is taking the starring role from the Regency clown. While productions may be different each year, there are a few phrases said that have now stuck as pantomime traditions. But the beating heart of any pantomime is its dame and for the past three years actor Eamonn Fleming has been learning this not-so-subtle art. Picture: Keith Mindham, - Credit: Photo: Keith Mindham Photography, Eamonn Fleming as Molly Muffintop in Bury Theatre Royal's Beauty and the Beast. - Credit: Archant. When someone else is talking or singing, you can give the audience a nod and wink to point something up or just to let them know that you are on their side.'. All these elements have shaped the pantomimes we enjoy today. In the panto there is lots of jokes and the line ‘he’s behind you’ is famous as there is always a scene in a panto where someone is looking for something and it is always behind them. It was, he says, very strange to perform panto to an empty studio, although he got around the absence of an audience by using sound effects to recreate shouts of "It's behind you!"

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