LONDON (AP) 鈥� Here鈥檚 a recipe as essential to Christmas in Britain as turkey, tinsel and mince pies.
Mix a fairy-tale plot with topical references, slapstick, song, dance and double entendres. Drench in sequins and spangles, mix vigorously, add some noisy audience participation, and you have a panto.
鈥� are stage musicals that play at theaters big and small across the U.K. each winter. Formulaic but anarchic, family friendly but a little risque, they are a holiday tradition that give many children their first exposure to live theater 鈥� and adults a chance to cut loose.
Anyone who thinks Britons are buttoned up hasn't been to a panto. Audiences happily shed their inhibitions 鈥� cheering, singing, hissing the villain, shouting 鈥淗e鈥檚 behind you!鈥� to warn the hero.
鈥淚t鈥檚 singing, dancing, laughing 鈥� taking the family out and being able to be out with their kids and letting the kids run riot,鈥� said Clive Rowe, who directed and stars in 鈥淒ick Whittington and his Cat鈥� at the Hackney Empire 鈥� his 17th annual panto for the storied east London theater.
Pantomime has deep roots, stretching back to the stock characters and bawdy humor of the 16th-century Italian commedia dell鈥檃rte and the French harlequinade, as well as the English music hall. By the late 19th century, the elements had gelled into a form still recognizable today.
The plots are drawn from well-known fairy tales and children鈥檚 stories such as 鈥淎laddin,鈥� 鈥淪now White鈥� and 鈥淐inderella.鈥� Characters include a plucky hero, or 鈥減rincipal boy,鈥� often played by a woman, an outrageous villain, and a 鈥渄ame,鈥� a sharp-tongued matron who is always played by a man in fabulously flamboyant drag.
鈥淭he pantomime dame is the beating heart of the show,鈥� said Simon Sladen, curator of theater and performance at London鈥檚 Victoria and Albert Museum. 鈥淪he is that engine that drives it. Firstly with pace and anarchy, but also a little bit of sauce on the side.鈥�
An estimated 3 million people in Britain attend a pantomime each year, in venues ranging from small regional theaters to London West End playhouses. Many theaters rely on them for a big chunk of their annual income.
When London鈥檚 theaters were closed for months by pandemic lockdowns in 2020, panto dames led a protest march through the city to stress their importance to the creative economy.
They provide seasonal work to faded pop stars, television entertainers, the occasional Hollywood celebrity 鈥� Pamela Anderson took Liverpool by storm when she starred in 鈥淎laddin鈥� in 2010, singing 鈥淪anta Baby鈥� while suspended on a swing above the stage, dressed in costumes by Vivienne Westwood.
They are also vital experience for many young actors, including the A-listers of tomorrow.
Jude Law told The Associated Press recently that he鈥檇 played Humpty Dumpty, recalling his performance as 鈥渓oud and round.鈥� At 17, Michael Fassbender played one of Cinderella鈥檚 Ugly Sisters, and a tree.
鈥淲icked鈥� star Jonathan Bailey starred alongside a young Nicholas Hoult in a production of 鈥淧eter Pan.鈥� Hoult also appeared in 鈥淢other Goose鈥� as a child, and says he would happily do another, as they鈥檙e 鈥渞eally fun.鈥�
Asked to sum up the art form, Bailey called it a 鈥渜uintessentially British bloody good time for all the family.鈥�
Today鈥檚 pantos often strive to reflect diversity, both onstage and in the audience. Rowe, whose Hackney Empire pantos draw many of their cast and crew from Britain鈥檚 Black communities, said that at its core the genre is 鈥渁bout acceptance.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 about understanding, it鈥檚 about the idea that being different isn鈥檛 necessarily a bad thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t should be brought in and kind of celebrated and that no matter where you are in society, from the youngest to the oldest, we all have a place and we should embrace that.鈥�
Drag performer Ginger Johnson, starring in an adult 鈥渁ll-drag panto鈥� version of 鈥淧eter Pan鈥� at London鈥檚 Phoenix Theatre, said that panto鈥檚 ability to change is 鈥渨hy it鈥檚 managed to survive for so long as a cultural form.鈥�
鈥淚 think for a lot of kids, panto is the first time that they come in contact with drag as well,鈥� Johnson said.
Stage historian Sladen said that some are leaning into the drag element of panto, with 鈥渁 bigger, wider explosion of roles than just the dame and the principal boy being cross-dressed.鈥�
鈥淲e might see the fairy godmother played by a dame or played by a drag artist. We might see a wicked stepmother, also played by a very well-known drag performer. So (it鈥檚) constantly evolving, constantly changing with the times.鈥�
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Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
Lizzie Knight, The Associated Press
