Hello and welcome to Fairy Tale Friday. Are you
sitting comfortably? Good. Then I’ll begin.
 |
| From our local panto |
Today we look at the Pantomime –that great British Christmas
tradition. I have chosen it to follow musicals because a pantomime is an all singing all dancing extravaganza with lots of famous guest stars.
According to Wikipedia:
A pantomime is a type of musical
comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. 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. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy
and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with
a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. Pantomime
is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing
along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
Pantomime has a long theatrical history in
Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the
16th century commedia dell'arte tradition of Italy and
other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th century masques and music hall.
I have chosen to talk about the pantomime because
Cinderella is one of the most popular stories performed. So what makes a
pantomime a pantomime and how does it differ from a conventional play?
Again, thanks to Wikipedia for this information.
Performance conventions
The form has a number of conventions, some
of which have changed or weakened a little over the years, and by no means all
of which are obligatory.
The leading male juvenile character is traditionally
played by a young woman in male garments (such as breeches). Her
romantic partner is usually the principal girl, a female ingénue. NOTE:
I have actually only seen one panto like this in the nearly sixteen years that
we have lived in the UK.
An older woman (the pantomime
dame – often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man in drag. NOTE: This has been true in every panto we have
attended, which is why Cinderella is such good fun—you get two men in drag for
the price of one as there are two ugly step sisters.
Risqué double
entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases. This
is, in theory, over the heads of the children in the audience and is for the
entertainment of the adults. NOTE: This is true in every show we have
seen along with the most terrible, corny jokes that make me laugh like a donkey.
Audience participation, including calls of
"He's behind you!" (or "Look behind you!"), and "Oh,
yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always
encouraged to hiss the villain and "awwwww" the poor victims, such as
the rejected dame, who is usually enamoured with one of the male characters. NOTE:
This is the best part. You get to shout at the stage!
Music may be original but is more likely
to combine well-known tunes with re-written
lyrics. At least one "audience participation" song is
traditional: one half of the audience may be challenged to sing
"their" chorus louder than the other half. Children in the audience
may even be invited on stage to sing along with members of the cast.
The animal, played by an actor in
"animal skin" or animal costume. It is often a pantomime
horse or cow (though could even be a camel if appropriate to the
setting), played by two actors in a single costume, one as the head and front
legs, the other as the body and back legs.
The good fairy enters from stage right
(from the audience's point of view this is on the left) and the villain enters
from stage left (right from the point of view of the audience). This convention
goes back to the medieval mystery plays, where the right side of the stage
symbolised Heaven and the left side symbolised Hell.
A slapstick comedy routine may be
performed, often a decorating or baking scene, with humour based on throwing
messy substances. Until the 20th century, British pantomimes often concluded
with a harlequinade, a free-standing entertainment of slapstick.
Since then, the slapstick has been incorporated into the main body of the show.
At some point during the performance,
characters including the Dame and the comic will sit on a bench and sing a
cheerful song to forget their fears. The thing they fear, often a ghost,
appears behind them, but at first the characters ignore the audience's warnings
of danger. The characters soon circle the bench, followed by the ghost, as the
audience cries "It's behind you!" One by one, the characters see the
ghost and run off, until at last the Dame and the ghost come face to face,
whereupon the ghost, frightened by the visage of the Dame, runs away. NOTE: Okay,
I was wrong. This is the best bit. It does involve shouting at the actors but also
some spooky music and jaunty dancing.
When you watch a pantomime of Cinderella there are some features that appear in almost every show:
·
Cinderella lives at Hardup Hall. Her
father has died, and she is awaiting her two stepsisters to come and join her
at the dilapidated manor house. The house has fallen into disrepair since the
death of her father who died leaving debts.
·
A servant named Buttons works at Hardup
Hall. He is secretly in love with Cinderella, but she sees him only as a
friend. When he comes on stage, he shouts, “Hiya kids!” and you have to shout, “Hiya
Buttons!” or something similar. At our local panto, he is called JJ Buttons and
he shouts, “Wayhey!” and you reply, “JJ!”
·
The prince and his manservant Dandini swap
places so he can venture out in the world without being recognised. In it is in
this disguise that he meets Cinderella and the stepsisters who think of him as
a servant.
·
The stepsisters wear increasingly
outrageous outfits as the show progresses. In every show we ever seen of
Cinderella, they have also picked out a poor man on the front row and flirted
with him outrageously.
Cinderella being "tested" by the Good Fairy in disguise to see if she is generous and kind and deserving of help. She is.
·
Buttons try to cheer Cinders up by
dressing her for the ball with a colander on her head for a crown, 14 carrots
on a string for a 14 caret necklace and a clothes horse to pull an imaginary
coach before she gets transformed by the Good Fairy.
Real ponies are often used in as a "walk on" to pull Cinderella's coach. (I don't like this bit from an animal welfare standpoint)
The rest is as you would expect—abuse,
redemption, a ball and a slipper, a midnight curfew, and a wedding. The cast is also riddled with famous actors taking the lead roles. At our local panto, they are more local famous people, but famous people nonetheless.
Here are some scenes from a panto
version of Cinderella. It was filmed live for TV and is full of famous faces that sadly my American friends will not recognise, but my British ones will.
This is an introduction to Cinderella, Buttons and the evil stepmother.
Meeting the ugly stepsisters and the real Dandini.
Cinderella's "test" (in this one the Good Fairy is played by gay icon Julian Clary) and the Prince and Dandini swap places.
The Prince in disguise meets Cinderella in the woods, the stepsisters wear some ridiculous outfits, and Cinderella thinks she is prevented from going to the ball.
Buttons tries to cheer Cinders up, the good fairy transforms her rags to a ball gown and a real pony appears to pull her coach.
At the ball Cinderella and the Prince dance, fall in love and kiss and then she runs away at midnight.
Slapstick with the ugly stepsisters which involves hanging wallpaper.
Trying on the slipper and a marriage proposal.
That's all for this week, stay tuned next week for a gender bending Cinderella.
