Look out! He’s Behind You!

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When I was in Kerela, India, a little while ago, I was taken to a Kathakali performance. In this theatrical dance tradition, the performers, all men, dress in elaborate costumes and perform an ancient story, using their faces and exaggerated eye movements to convey meaning and emotions. The makeup and costumes are elaborate, and performers take around two hours to prepare. The performers take on roles of women, children, and the evil ‘baddie.’ It made me think of a pantomime, particularly as one of the men playing the hero’s mother would have made a wonderful pantomime dame with his outlandish eye rolls and exaggerated pouts.

Pantomime

It made me think about pantomime. In the UK, the pantomime season runs from December to February and nearly every town puts on a performance. They are popular and often include jokes about current affairs, people in the news, or perennial issues like traffic.

While taking themes from nursery rhymes to fairy stories — Cinderella, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, to name a few- they include traditional characters that are an integral part of any show. Wonderful ‘Dames’ (played by men in drag) include Dame Whittington, Dame Frugal, Dame Wonderbra, Widow Twanky, and many others. There is always a hapless sidekick, usually the Dame’s son, such as the aptly named Wishy Washy in Aladdin, Buttons in Cinderella, and of course, a villain such as Captain Hook in Peter Pan, The Wicked Queen in Snow White, and Cruella de Vil in One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Origin

Pantomime is thought to have evolved from Roman Theatres, where, to liven up a long drama, there would be an interlude, where dancers would tell a story through wordless actions, usually it was a story familiar to the audience. Sometimes a single dancer would play all the characters, and sometimes there would be several, each playing a role — the good, the evil, and the saviour of the day.

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Elaborate productions of pantomime were developed, and these became performances in their own right. Theatres would be filled with people watching often erotically dressed performers telling elaborate stories based on myths and legends. Music played while the performers sang lyrics and danced to tell the story. Words were not allowed, but props were used and the costumes developed into garish, outlandish outfits that over time, became associated with particular characters — the elaborately dark dress of the evil person, the demure attire of the heroin, and the scantily clad leading boy ( played by a woman), often a dancer in tights.

In Roman times, pantomime became hugely popular, and renowned performers could win the financial support of citizens and become influential. At some point, however, pantomime lost its allure, and became derided and considered a low-level art, so its popularity declined. However, the idea had spread to many countries.

In the UK, traditional plays, called Mummers, were performed by touring groups, sometimes lampooning powerful people with good-natured humour and usually based around stories of Saint George. Pantomime became entwined with Mummers because it offered a wider repertoire and the opportunity to expand the number of performers, costumes, and characters.

The pantomimes became a release for performers and audiences, as fights, good versus evil, gender reversal, lascivious characters, the underdog winning, and always good defeating evil, gave them hope, and the difficult subjects were addressed, but always tinged with a good dose of humour. They were often performed around Christmas, adding to a time of festivities and fun. The pantomimes were influenced by plays in Europe and elsewhere.

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In pantomime, a wide audience could experience the trials and tribulations of the characters and love stories without having to watch heavier works like Shakespeare or European dance and theatre in a fun and often comedic manner.

The story of Harlequin was popular from the seventeenth century. The story was adapted to pantomime, and the characters we know today are all there. The lovers, Harlequin and Columbine (the romance), are relentlessly thwarted by Columbine’s father, Pantaloon (the evil character), and his servants Clown and Pierrot (comedy characters), and a policeman who messes up every time. Harlequin was the most popular pantomime for many decades, but by the nineteenth century, English theatres were competing for audiences and put on pantomimes depicting fairy tales, or darker productions penned by locals, but the familiar characters were, by now, entrenched in pantomime tradition.

Fast forward to modern times, and pantomimes proliferate from December to February in theatres big and small across Europe and the UK. Some are weird and wonderful, like ‘Humpty Dumpty Does Brexit’ or ‘Nursery Rhyme Characters You Never Met’, but the familiar stories remain the most popular.

Audience participation is a big part of pantomime, and the audience is primed and knows their part. They ‘boo’ the evil character when they lurk behind the main characters on stage, and they are often given an action to perform each time a character uses their prop. For example, Captain Hook might shake his hook, and the audience is to say, ‘Go Away Crocodile!!’ (Hook’s arch nemesis). Or when the pantomime dame waves her hanky in Aladdin, the audience says, ‘Oooh La La!’

Another feature of pantomime is the interlude. During this break in the performance, one of the main characters — often the Dame- invites another character to join her in an activity like baking a cake or doing the laundry — usually resulting in the liberal distribution of foam, feathers, or flour.

For those unfamiliar with a traditional pantomime, the storyline usually goes something like this.

There is a love story — the daughter (our heroine) of a powerful man has fallen for a local lad (our hero), but her father wants her to marry a rich man (the fop) he has chosen. His father has a servant (the comic), and there is the father of the rich man, who is jealous of everyone and will do anything to spoil the day (our evil character). Everything is done to force the girl to marry the wealthy man, but just as she is going to the altar, the good fairy (our good character) arrives in a puff of smoke and works her magic, transforming the fortunes of the local lad and the girl he loves.

The characters will include the leading male juvenile character, or principal boy, often played by a young woman in breeches or a similar male costume. There is a romantic partner, played by a girl, a dame — often the leading character’s mother, usually played by a man in outrageous women’s clothes, outspoken and often a little daft. It is this character that often utters risqué lines and sexual innuendos, intended to be understood only by the adults in the audience. There will be an evil character, always entering from stage right, and a good character, always entering from stage left — this comes from traditions that depicted hell on the left and heaven on the right (to the audience’s view). Modern pantomimes often include a celebrity taking a major role for extra entertainment.

Whatever the story, whether a well-known fairy tale or a locally written lampoon, the performance will never be the same each time because a certain amount of improvisation, forgetting of lines, and general messing about is often included.

The evil character will be devilishly cunning and cries of, ‘he’s behind you!,’ or ‘boo, hiss!!’ The audience is encouraged whenever he enters the stage. There may be an animal, and this animal may be used to deliver messages or to thwart the villain by tripping them up.

Members of the chorus — the majority of characters, playing roles of, for example, townspeople, or wedding guests, often play different roles and wear different costumes at different times — tricky if you are trying to spot your Aunty Val.

Humour will always be present, such as a monster appearing from time to time, scaring the townspeople and audience alike. As the Dame sings a song, the monster may appear behind her, and the audience shouts ‘behind you!’ for all they’re worth. The monster eventually catches the Dame but runs away when it sees her face — that kind of thing. He dame, just to add intrigue, is often in love with another character — for example, the heroine’s evil father. It gets complex.

The work behind the scenes

For every pantomime, as well as the performers, there is an army of people working hard behind the scenes. From costume designers and makers to scenery painters and quick scene changers, the workload is immense and involves many people. The months of preparation, writing the script, learning lines, learning the songs, rehearsals both out of costume and wearing the full regalia, including the outlandish wigs and dresses that many Dames wear, and of course, selling tickets. Putting on a pantomime can involve a whole village or part of a town.

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Pantomime now features in many countries as part of festive celebrations. Wherever it is performed, it takes on its own subtleties, and characters may lampoon local issues or characters and even include national dances and songs, but the outline remains familiar.

So, this festive season, go to a pantomime wherever you are. You won’t regret it. And remember. He’s behind you!!!