I have tried to explain pantomimes to people who have not experienced them in the past, with limited success at best. How exactly do you explain a form of performance which usually involves cross-dressing, a romance between two women, a villain who is booed and derided by the audience every time they come onto stage, jokes which have not changed since the whole formula was invented, and heavy amounts of innuendo in a performance supposedly aimed at children while still keeping the idea in someone's head that this is all entertaining and in good fun, and really is suitable for the whole family? You can imagine why I have had such trouble, particularly in my occasional attempts to explain this to Americans.
So then, allow me to try and explain the formulaic elements common to most pantomimes before I tell you how my evening so far has gone. The hero of whatever story is being told, usually a fairy tale, is played by a woman who generally wears very short shorts, and tights. It is completely accepted that this is the hero, no matter how feminine she may actually be. No one questions the matter, or even thinks about it too much. The hero is simply played by a woman. That has always been the case in pantomime, and probably always will be. It gets interesting when you get to the hero's love interest, also played by a woman, but this time actually representing one. Before the perverts among you get your hopes up the most sexual thing you will see in your average pantomime might be a kiss on the cheek or a hug. These are shows for children, no matter what you may think.
Then you have the Buttons-type character. This is generally a companion or friend of the heroine's, if there is one, but may sometimes be instead linked to the villain. If a companion of the heroine's then Buttons will be secretly in love with her. He will confess this early on in the show to the audience, usually by asking them to look after a present of some kind which will be left at the edge of the stage. If any of the audience see someone trying to take this, they are to shout 'Buttons', or whatever name may be appropriate. Pantomime is big on audience participation. If a companion of the villain the Buttons-type character will usually be moderately incompetent, and act to temper the villain's evil.
The villains are truly evil, and revel in it, taunting and tormenting the audience to provoke choruses of boos and hisses. Sometimes they are redeemed at the end, other times they are simply killed. They are almost always the favourite character of a large portion of the audience, which drives them to even greater heights in trying to boo them off the stage.
Many pantomimes, though not all, will also have a character called a Dame. Some will have more than one. These are men dressed as women in outlandish outfits, which become gradually more and more ridiculous as each scene goes on. Either Buttons-type or the Dame or sometimes both will at some point generally do a scene where they encourage the audience to join in a song, invite children up on stage to join in, throw sweets to the audience, sing to scare away a ghost or gorilla or something similar, sometimes a mix of the above.
At some point the audience will usually be required to shout 'It's behind you' to alert the hero, or one of the good guys, to someone hiding, a nearby threat, something they are looking for or something else. They will also usually engage in a shouting match of 'oh no it isn't' or 'oh yes it is' with one of the characters, and this has become a common joke among most of England's population.
I hope I have now given you some idea of what a pantomime is, which is necessary to explain that this evening I have been to see the local pantomime with my family. The poster is above, and the person in the centre who looks like Captain Hook, and is Captain Hook, may be better known to some of you as a certain famous character from an old situational comedy, namely the Fonz.
Just thought I should share. He made an excellent Hook.
So then, allow me to try and explain the formulaic elements common to most pantomimes before I tell you how my evening so far has gone. The hero of whatever story is being told, usually a fairy tale, is played by a woman who generally wears very short shorts, and tights. It is completely accepted that this is the hero, no matter how feminine she may actually be. No one questions the matter, or even thinks about it too much. The hero is simply played by a woman. That has always been the case in pantomime, and probably always will be. It gets interesting when you get to the hero's love interest, also played by a woman, but this time actually representing one. Before the perverts among you get your hopes up the most sexual thing you will see in your average pantomime might be a kiss on the cheek or a hug. These are shows for children, no matter what you may think.
Then you have the Buttons-type character. This is generally a companion or friend of the heroine's, if there is one, but may sometimes be instead linked to the villain. If a companion of the heroine's then Buttons will be secretly in love with her. He will confess this early on in the show to the audience, usually by asking them to look after a present of some kind which will be left at the edge of the stage. If any of the audience see someone trying to take this, they are to shout 'Buttons', or whatever name may be appropriate. Pantomime is big on audience participation. If a companion of the villain the Buttons-type character will usually be moderately incompetent, and act to temper the villain's evil.
The villains are truly evil, and revel in it, taunting and tormenting the audience to provoke choruses of boos and hisses. Sometimes they are redeemed at the end, other times they are simply killed. They are almost always the favourite character of a large portion of the audience, which drives them to even greater heights in trying to boo them off the stage.
Many pantomimes, though not all, will also have a character called a Dame. Some will have more than one. These are men dressed as women in outlandish outfits, which become gradually more and more ridiculous as each scene goes on. Either Buttons-type or the Dame or sometimes both will at some point generally do a scene where they encourage the audience to join in a song, invite children up on stage to join in, throw sweets to the audience, sing to scare away a ghost or gorilla or something similar, sometimes a mix of the above.
At some point the audience will usually be required to shout 'It's behind you' to alert the hero, or one of the good guys, to someone hiding, a nearby threat, something they are looking for or something else. They will also usually engage in a shouting match of 'oh no it isn't' or 'oh yes it is' with one of the characters, and this has become a common joke among most of England's population.
I hope I have now given you some idea of what a pantomime is, which is necessary to explain that this evening I have been to see the local pantomime with my family. The poster is above, and the person in the centre who looks like Captain Hook, and is Captain Hook, may be better known to some of you as a certain famous character from an old situational comedy, namely the Fonz.
Just thought I should share. He made an excellent Hook.
1 comment:
i love pantomimes! i haven't seen one in years but they're so worth going to!
i love your explanation rabbit!
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