For those not familiar with “Panto”, a traditional holiday treat in England, I offer a few comments and explanations with much help from my friend Wikipedia. Please support Wikipedia
Pantomime is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It 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. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines folksy humor with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale or fable, such as Cinderella, Jack and the beanstalk, Robin Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Mother goose.
It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. Thus “Oh yes we are” and “look behind yer” (when the villian appears). Another tradition is to bring yougsters onto the stage to help with the singing, as our IzWiz did a few years ago.
Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture, developed partly from the 16th century commedia dell’arte tradition of Italy and other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century music hall. But it goes back much further……
As I am sure most Brits know, the word pantomime was adopted from the latin word pantomimus, which in turn derives from the Greek word παντόμιμος (pantomimos), consisting of παντο- (panto-) meaning “all”, and μῖμος (mimos), meaning a dancer who acted all the roles or all the story. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in ancient Rome and little is known of it in pre-Roman Greece.
We will be seeing Robin Hood at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, where Andy and family live. Bury is a beautiful historic city which we always enjoy visiting
The Theatre Royal opened in 1819 and offers a variety of shows through the year.
We booked the best front row seats immediately after last years show to make sure we would get involved in the action, eg sprayed with water and invective, but had to change the dates, so will be in the nosebleed section on Dec 27th. As usual, Nicky and family will be joining us. “Oh yes they will”.
And a few of the traditional jokes and puns. Sorry
My wife went abroad. Jamaica? No, she went of her own accord
Why is a pantomime often just called a panto? Because mime is silent
Why is Cinderella rubbish at football? Her coach was a pumpkin
An actor I know kept falling through the floor in pantomime. It was just a stage he was going through
What did Cinderella say when the chemist mislaid her photos? Some day my prints will come
All part of life’s rich tapestry……