Panto time
Post categories: Teacher blog
| 10:20 UK time, Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Hello and thanks for your comments. Lovely to hear from you. I mentioned that I had been a performer in the past, and Tadassa asked if I had ever been in a pantomime. Well, Tadassa, when I was a child I was in a few pantomimes - or 'pantos' as they're usually known. I'll try and dig out a picture. For those of you who don't know what a pantomime is - let me explain.
A panto is a very special, very British kind of entertainment. It's a play with music, and you go to a panto mostly around Christmas and New Year. Pantomime is real family entertainment, with songs, comedy, topical references and lots of cross-dressing. Pantos are always based on traditional children's stories, such as 'Cinderella', or sometimes stories from the Arabian Nights, such as 'Aladdin'.
A pantomime dame
The messy comedy routine from a panto
- the principal boy (the main, young, romantic male character) is played by a woman
- an older woman (usually the principal boy's mother) is played by a man and is known as 'the dame' (confused, yet?)
- there's a lot of audience participation including calls of "He's behind you!" when the baddie comes on - or "Oh, yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!". The audience boos and hisses at the villain
- there's usally a pantomime cow or horse played by two people in an animal suit
- there's a comedy routine usually based around decorating or cooking with lots of mess
- and the boy gets the girl at the end. There's always a wedding!
This Christmas some of my colleagues at ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Learning English did a panto - for those of you who missed it - here's the link!
Two characters from Aladdin, including the principal boy (who is a girl, remember....?)
Useful vocabularyto dig something out - to find something you haven't used for a while
topical references - comments about famous people in the news
cross-dressing - wearing clothes normally worn by the opposite sex
the baddie - the evil person in a playÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½work
What traditional forms of theatre have you got in your country? Let us know about them - especially if you've taken part in one.
Comment number 1.
At 12th Apr 2011, Tenzin wrote:let me make some sentences for those new vocabularies .
when I try to dig something out to the child he feels exiting .
The topical references have a power to be effective the society.
Cross-dressing is traditional and it is also a culture.
the baddie can be defeated the game all time there is no rejoice where he is .
Namdrol
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Comment number 2.
At 13th Apr 2011, Pary wrote:Hi Cath ! welcome to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ LE Blogging land . OH my Gosh being a teacher , writer , performer and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ le team all are amazing ! And as you said work trips are so fantastic ! what a good start you had ….two entry one by one ! Your second Blog was so intriguing and informative !let's introduce myself a bit I'm Pary from Iran and I have been one of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ le loyal readers from 2006 and thanks to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Le I have learn a lot in this site and I have made friends with so many lovely persons from all around the world as well : )
Waiting for your next entry
Cheers
Pary
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Comment number 3.
At 13th Apr 2011, Varisha wrote:Hi Cath,
Your post is very informative. I have learnt quite a bit from this post. To be honest, I have never seen a pantomime before and through this entry I have learned something new. Thanks to you! Any way, since my knowledge about theatre shows is very limited therefore I won't be able to contribute much but I would love to read more about it through posts from different countries here.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Negee and I am from Pakistan. I am here to improve my written English. Hopefully writing here every day will enhance my writing ability. Looking forward to your next entry.
Take care
Negee
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Comment number 4.
At 15th Apr 2011, Tadassa wrote:Hello Cath,
I'm so glad you read with attention the messages in your posts. Thank you!!
What a marvelous blog about 'Pantos'! We find lots of definitions of the basic concepts, the rules that 'pantos' follow and colourful pictures! It's such a great info to keep.
What I did and usually I do when I read something that catch my attention is taking notes, this helps me a lot.
It's a pitty in my country we don't have these kinds of plays, I have never been in one, but thanks to your explanations and the Cinderella pantomine produced by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ LE, I can make a picture of it in my mind.
All my gratitude to you,
Tadassa
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Comment number 5.
At 21st Apr 2011, Madda wrote:Dear Cath,
is fine your post "panto time". But I don't undertsand why the principal boy is played by a woman, and the older woman is played by a man... Maybe beacuse they are more fun interpreting opposite roles?
Regards,
Maddalena (Rome)
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Comment number 6.
At 23rd Apr 2011, Arvind8 wrote:Hello Cath,
I do not know much of traditional theatres in my country India, but I am sure that a lot of traditional theatres are there in this country as it has very vast and diverse cultures. There is one theatrical performance which is performed in different ways by different provinces here in India and that is 'Ramleela'.
I wanted to ask you about when to use 'what+noun' and 'which+noun' in interrogative sentences as you have used in "What traditional forms of theatre have you got in your country?" And also how to use sentence connectors when you reel out a story.
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Comment number 7.
At 28th Apr 2011, Mohammad Najmul Huda wrote:Hi Cath ,
I think ' panto' is very nice and funny thing .If I called it 'Funny drama or comedy drama' I hope nobody opposed me. Panto makes laugh people and it has no alternative.
In Bangladesh I saw many comedy drama but panto is totally different .Specially cross acting and cross dressing make it different. Thank you .
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