The crafty art of Pantomime

 

I love panto. Everyone loves panto. There's nothing like going to a theatre at Christmas time or with School sat on a mini bus and knowing you're going to see a panto. But where did pantomime originate?

Pantomime dates all the way back to the middle ages. It was based on Italy's 'Commedia dell'arte' from the 16th Century. 

Commedia dell'arte is an improvised type of comedy based on stock characters which are standard characters that you could find in every panto. Some examples of stock characters are;

The Villain, the Hero/ Heroine, the Voice of Wisdom or Reason, the Fool, the Sidekick, the Damsel in Distress, the Love Interest and the Traitor.

A pantomime contrasts greatly to traditional theatre. A pantomime is mostly aimed at children but is enjoyed by all ages. The characteristics of a pantomime include; 

Gender role reversion, Good vs Evil, Slapstick comedy, Colourful and eccentric costumes, Audience participation and they are often derived from a fairy tale or nursery story. The word 'Pantomime' derives from the Greek work 'Pantimos' which means a performer acting all of the roles in a story. Pantomime was the first time women were introduced to take the stage. Today, Pantomime includes songs, gags, slapsticks, dancing and special effects. It had gender-crossing and combines topical humour with a traditional story. 

In terms of 'Babes in the Wood' I would say that my stock character is the voice of reason or wisdom. My character of the Fairy did not appear in every scene and led the drama on from scene to scene. I think that the voice of reason plays a very important part as they are the person who are friends with the audience and the one's who keeps them engaged. I go into full detail about my role of the Fairy in my latest blog post. There you will find the ins and outs of my performance and what I think what went well and what I can improve on. I feel like i presented the voice of reason well because my lines were easy to understand as it is because they were in rhyme. I feel as though my voice and accent were very clear. I played with the camera a little bit when doing this role and treat it as my best friend throughout the process, such as when I performed in act 2 scene 6 I would talk to the camera at certain points to keep my audience engaged which is the exact role of the voice of reason. As you can see in the photo 

below, i would speak directly to the camera at any given chance and interact with it in a way that would make children laugh and feel interested.