As the Christmas lights start to appear on the high streets, it’s pantomime season. “Oh yes it is” the chorus chimes.
More than any other country, Britain has a long and colourful pantomime history and Christmas pantos – amateur, professional, and everything in between – are an institution. With roots that can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, modern panto has links with the popular theatre that arose in Middle Ages Italy, Commedia dell’arte, which reached England in the 16th Century. Panto also took inspiration from the later music hall scene, and has evolved to have several key ingredients that keep the audiences coming back for more.
