5 Pantomime Elements: Pantomime Definition and History

Pantomime is a style of theatrical entertainment featuring slapstick comedy, classic children’s stories, and stock characters. Although it descended from the Italian commedia dell’arte (another genre of stage performance), it became a primarily British phenomenon as it evolved and remains so to this day. More particularly, British pantomime performances are a routine fixture of the Christmas season in the United Kingdom.

The word “pantomime” derives from the Latin “pantomimus” and Greek “pantomimos.” “Panto” means “all” while “mimus” or “mimos” refers to someone who imitates various roles. As such, the definition of pantomime perhaps best translates to an “imitator of all.”

Pantomime’s influences stretch back to certain Roman theatrical performances, but it became a phenomenon in its own right much later in the United Kingdom. Here are key moments in the art form’s evolution:

• The influence of commedia dell’arte: Italian stage performers borrowed from certain comedic traditions in ancient Rome to create commedia dell’arte. Like the eventual pantomime performances it inspired, this style featured stock characters, over-the-top comedy, and plenty of music and dancing. After French performers began putting their own spin on the style, the British started experimenting with the form, too.
• Evolution into the harlequinade: Seventeenth-century Britain saw the influence of commedia dell’arte give birth to the harlequinade, another precursor to pantomime. It gets its name from the central character, Harlequin, who rotated between different stories and performances. In the eighteenth century, the Brit John Rich played the role of Lun, a character based on Harlequin, and anchored this theatrical style as a mainstay throughout the British Isles. Joseph Grimaldi’s “Clown” was another popular character of the era, often enthralling audiences at the Drury Lane theater in London. Harlequinades featured music but no speaking by the performers themselves, leading some to call them “silent shows” or “dumb shows.”
• The advent of spoken roles: One of the main things differentiating harlequinades from pantomime performances is the advent of speech in the latter sort of stage shows. Prior to the nineteenth century, the British parliament only allowed two theaters to put on spoken-word shows. In 1843, they expanded to include many others, leading plenty of theaters to turn their previously silent harlequinades into pantomimes using British English.
• A Victorian revival and beyond: Pantomime waned in popularity after the early nineteenth century, but it resurged again at the end of the 1800s since it blended with other music hall traditions. Pantomimists who took to the stage during this era included William Payne, Johnny Danvers, Dan Leno, and Herbert Campbell. The latter two men were a famous duo, performing Humpty Dumpty, Dick Whittington and His Cat, and other pantomimes together regularly. To this day, pantomime performances occur throughout the UK, especially around Christmas, seeing the return of beloved characters from the harlequinades and commedia dell’arte shows of yore.

While there have been countless pantomime plays and performances throughout the centuries, all of them share a few core similarities. Here are five of the most common:

1. 1. Audience participation: Pantomime is an interactive form of theatrical entertainment. Performers commonly lead a call-and-response with audiences, invite them to sing along, or point out the action onstage to unsuspecting characters. This is just one of the many reasons the style became so popular with children specifically.
2. 2. Christmas performances: It’s become a British tradition to see a Christmas pantomime shortly during the holiday season. Despite this, many pantomimes don’t specifically feature Christmas in their storylines. As a mainly family-friendly form of entertainment, it stands to reason pantomimes attract theatergoers when both parents and children have time off to attend stage performances (such as they do around the holidays).
3. 3. Popular children’s stories: Mother Goose rhymes and classic fairy tales serve as common source material for pantomime plays. The stories of Aladdin, Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Sleeping Beauty have all become pantomimes. These performances feature both characters unique to the stories themselves and the stock characters distinct to this specific art form. These plays also often feature actors in animal costumes—such as pantomime horses or dogs—which increase the entertainment value for children.
4. 4. Slapstick comedy: Pantomime is an essentially comedic art form, with an emphasis on physical comedy. Over-the-top acrobatics, bodily movements, and facial expressions are common throughout these performances. Mild innuendo and certain topical jokes might make their way into some shows for the parents’ entertainment, but it remains a primarily child-friendly style of performance.
5. 5. Stock characters: Archetypal characters like the Clown, the Pantomime Dame, and the Principal Boy show up in many different pantomime plays to interact with the unique source material. For example, you might see these stock characters comedically comment on and influence the actions of the characters in a retelling of Snow White.

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