Pantomime

Pantomime is a branch of theatre in which the performer uses no voice but acts out the performance using only motion, body language and gesture. It is usually, but not always done, in white face. See also mime.

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In the UK, pantomime (or panto) has come to mean a non-silent form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery, and satire, traditionally performed at Christmas, with audiences consisting mainly of children.\nTheir cast often includes celebrities, e.g. Sir Ian McKellen playing 'Widow Twantkey' this Christmas (2004) in Aladdin. Pantomimes tend to be loosely based on traditional children's stories, and there is only a small number of basic themes and titles, the most popular being:

• Aladdin\n*Babes in the Wood (often combined with Robin Hood)\n*Cinderella\n*Dick Whittington\n*Jack and the Beanstalk\n*Mother Goose\n*Puss in Boots\n*Sleeping Beauty

The form has a number of conventions, which include:

• The leading male character (the "principal boy") is played by a young woman.\n*An older woman (the "dame") is played by a man in drag.\n*There is a great deal of audience participation, including calls of "he's behind you", and "oh yes it is" or "oh no it isn't".

In both style and content, modern Panto has very clear and strong links with Commedia dell'arte - a form of popular theatre arising in the early middle ages in Italy and reaching England by 16th century. Shakespeare would have been very familiar with its forms and conventions.