He’s Behind You!
In the UK, “panto” is a very special form of theatre performed around Christmas time for the entertainment of the whole family. However, the non-British theatre-goer will probably be left absolutely confused as to what on earth is going on.
Panto, short for pantomime, is as much a part of the British Christmas season as decorating the tree or singing Christmas carols. This tradition takes well-loved fairy tales or folk stories like Sleeping Beauty or Aladdin and turns them into spectacular musical performances. Panto has surprisingly nothing to do with mimes – silent actors with white-face make up. In fact, it is probably the noisiest sort of theatre you can attend.
‘Oh no there isn’t!’ shout Cinderella’s two ugly sisters.
‘Oh yes there is!’ screams back the audience.
‘Isn’t! Isn’t! Isn’t!’ reply the ugly sisters stubbornly.
‘Is! Is! Is!’ the audience cries at the top of their voices.
No, the theatre audience hasn’t gone mad. It’s a typical scene from a panto. The audience is expected to join in with booing and hissing the evil villains, cheering and clapping the heroes, shouting out to the actors things like ‘He’s behind you!’ and singing silly songs, such as: ‘Why does a brown cow give white milk, when it only eats green grass?’
A good panto will appeal to both children and adults alike. There are colourful sets and costumes, lots of songs, clever jokes, heroes to love and villains to hate.
All pantos have some key ingredients. The role of the principal boy or hero is played by a girl, and a ‘dame’ (or older mother figure) is acted by a man. There are always goodies and baddies• and sometimes there is a pantomime cow or horse. The more outlandish the costumes and the more over the top• the acting, the better the show.
Pantos are big business in the UK and tickets sell out quickly, especially as the larger theatres attract television celebrities, famous comedians and even Hollywood stars to take the leading roles. Last year, you could have seen Pamela Anderson starring as Genie in Aladdin, and David Hasselhoff playing the part of Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
But it’s not just the major theatres that put on a panto show; there are small amateur theatres, church groups and schools putting on performances all over the country.
English pantomime has also been making its way over to the Czech Republic in the past few years. This year Stagestars, a British theatre group, is staging a performance of Cinderellaon the 2nd and 3rd of December, at the theatre U hasičů in Prague. Just don’t forget your sense of fun, and your singing voice.
Jo Molloy (UK)