Theatre Traditions: British Pantomime

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Short Summary:


Form of entertainment that is appropriate for families
Evolved into a traditional Christmas performance
Comedy (light entertainment)
Not a serious form of theatre
No serious themes, mostly based on fairytales

Conventions:

  1. Often get a male playing a female 
  2. Really obvious (not disguised) 
  3. Extremely eccentric and silly 
  4. Other female is played by a women to represent a young boy 
  5. Young male = played by woman 
  6. Used to bring humour and confusion to the audience 
  7. Some lines of dialogue that are always used (audience) 
  8. 4th wall is broken 
  9. Good VS Evil 
  10. Interactive and fun 
Origins:
It developed partly from the 16th century, Commedia dell'Arte tradition of Italy and other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th century masques and music hall. Element of improvisation is needed in-order to keep the audience interaction fluid and intriguing. 

Video Demonstration
Dame (Widow Twankey) (Mother/Mother-in-law)
  • Exaggerated costumes 
  • Male playing a female 
  • Strong interaction with audience to keep them interested 
  • Lots of joke from the start 
Costumes: 
  • Bright and colorful to attract young audience 
  • Visually appealing 
  • Large and exaggerated wigs 
  • Add to the comedy 
Research into Practice: 










Comments

  1. Anonymous25 April 2018 at 04:05

    Very informative notes with all of the key information covered and it is a lot of fun to see your videoed attempt at this! Good use of sources to enhance the class content.

    ReplyDelete

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