WA Advent Calendar 2025 - Wednesday 10th December

byGail-UK

3.8K followers

6 days ago

It’s Panto Season!... Oh no it isn't... Oh yes it is!

Today in the Advent calendar is something that maybe only we Brits will recognise.

A traditional pantomime dame!

Every December, theatres across the UK burst into glitter, slapstick and joyful chaos as pantomime season arrives. For many families, panto is as much a part of Christmas as mince pies and fairy lights.

I was brought up on pantos as we call them, because my Mum belonged to a local amateur dramatic group who did a pantomime every year, and I made my stage debut aged 7 playing a villager and a goblin in the Hardingstone Players' version of "Rumplestiltskin".

Over the years, I grew up playing various different characters, and this gave me my lifelong love of theatre, musicals and a little bit of drama!

But where did this wonderfully bonkers tradition come from?

A short history of pantomime

Pantomime has its roots in the Italian commedia dell’arte of the 16th and 17th centuries, which used stock characters, improvisation and comic physicality. When these travelling performers reached Britain, their style mixed with British music hall, vaudeville and fairy tales. By the 1800s, pantomime had evolved into the festive spectacular we know today.

Traditionally performed on Boxing Day, pantos became a major winter attraction in Victorian theatres, with elaborate sets, dancing, slapstick and famous actors taking on iconic roles. And this continues to this day, with many of our most famous stage and screen actors taking a month or two out of their busy schedules each year to star as 'Wishey Washey', Aladdin's lazy but all-heart brother, or 'Sarah the Cook', the cook to Alderman Fitzwarren in the story of "Dick Whittington and his Cat" whose food you'd never like to eat; or even a villain or two, doing everything they can to foil the plans for the luckless hero in any well known fairytale. Many also recruit a 'chorus' of children and dancers from the local area to give them a taste of professional theatre and to guarantee a few more 'bums on seats!'

So what makes a panto a panto?

A few classic ingredients appear every year:

• The Dame – a comic female role always played by a man
• The Principal Boy – often played by a young woman in breeches
• Audience participation – “He’s behind you!” "Oh no it isn't" and "Oh yes it is?" are standard audience reactions that we all know well and are encouraged to shout out, as well as cheering for the hero and booing the villain. And there is always an audience participation song at the end that is set up as a competition between each side of the auditorium
• Slapstick and silliness – custard pies, chaotic chases, comic misunderstandings
• Topical and terrible jokes – politics, celebrities, social media… nothing is off limits
• Inuendo - although many jokes are aimed at children, clever pantos include inuendo and double entendre that the adults can enjoy, safe in the knowledge that they will pass over the heads of the children
• A classic story – Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White and more
• Painted 2D sets and black cloths - most sets are traditionally 2D, which are unrealistic and cartoon-like
• Over the top, colourful costumes and wigs - especially for the Dame
• A little bit of magic! - shows often involve pyrotechnics and special effects

These traditions developed over centuries, and now every major regional theatre in the UK hosts a panto at Christmas, and it is often one of the things that keeps them going throughout the rest of the year.

Some fun facts and figures

• Around three million people in the UK go to a pantomime each year.
• Panto is often the show that keeps regional theatres financially afloat, with the Christmas season providing a major slice of their annual income.
• Many famous British actors have played panto roles, including Ian McKellen, John Barrowman, David Hasselhoff, Maureen Lipman and Dawn French.
• The earliest recorded pantomime at Drury Lane Theatre, one of the most influential panto venues, dates to the early 1700s.
• Some pantos sell out months ahead, with big theatres giving over six weeks of their schedule to panto performances.

What panto teaches us

I love panto - it's what I grew up with, and it gave me a lifelong career! I have even written and 2 published pantos that have been performed as far away as Australia by other groups, so it's definitely in my blood!

Here's a few lines to give you an idea from my version of Cinderella to give you a feel for the frivolity...

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Edwina and Fatima are Cinderella's ugly sisters (played by men as there are 2 dames in this one) and have just been given an invitation to the ball. They are falling over themselves to ingratiate themselves to the Prince (played by a woman as the Principal Boy). The more overacting, the better!

Edwina: Oh helloooooo, your Highness. I'm Edwina, but you can call me Eddy for short

Prince: Ah, Ok, Eddy!

Fatima: Enchanté, your One-Higher-than-Her Highness; I'm Fatima. I don't like shortened names!

Prince: Right, Well I must be off. Good morning, ... ladies!

The Prince leaves hurriedly, leaving the 2 sisters behind.

Fatima: Oh he loves me. He couldn't take his eyes off me. He's mine already.

Edwina: What do you mean? He was infatuated with me. He never even looked at you.

Fatima: Yes he did. He looked at me several times, actually!

Edwina: Only because he couldn't get you all in, in one go!

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You get the idea!

But beyond the glitter, panto is a celebration of community, shared laughter and storytelling. It brings together all ages, breaks the fourth wall convention of theatre to involve everyone, and reminds us not to take life too seriously. In a season focused on connection and kindness, pantomime plays a unique role in lifting spirits and bringing families together.

So whether you love the silliness, the songs, the boos and hisses, or the Dame’s outrageous costumes, panto is one British Christmas tradition that keeps reinventing itself while keeping its heart firmly in place.

"Oh not it isn't..."

"Oh yes it is!"

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