Table of Contents
When was the first British pantomime?
From the late 1600s these characters appeared in English comic plays, introduced by the theatre impresario John Rich.
Who created British pantomime?
John Rich
A rough, uneducated man called John Rich played a key role in the emergence of pantomime. Rich was a dancer, acrobat and mime artist and during the 1720s he was managing a theatre at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. What he created was a new kind of entertainment.
Who invented pantomime?
John Rich, actor-manager of the Lincoln’s Inn Theatre (opened 1714) and The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (opened 1732), was known as the ‘father of pantomime’ because he was the first to realise the potential of the Commedia characters.
What do we call a woman dressed as the hero in a pantomime?
A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of travesti portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else by men acting butch in women’s clothing.
Why do villains enter from stage left?
The Demon King was the bad guy, the principal antagonist. By tradition he always appeared stage left, because left (sinistra in Italian) is traditionally associated with the devil. This tradition goes back to medieval mystery plays where the left hand side of the rudimentary stage symbolized hell and the right, heaven.
Why does the villain always enter stage left?
In a literal sense, always from stage left (or the right-hand side of the proscenium from the audience’s perspective). This tradition is probably a hangover from the medieval mystery plays – the bawdy, popular entertainments of their day – in which the entrance to hell was placed at the “sinister” side of the stage.
What’s the history of pantomime in the UK?
Pantomime has become quintessentially British: as British as Earl Grey tea or a good Indian curry. Pantomime’s history is a story of border crossings, as plots and performers slip across national, linguistic and cultural boundaries.
What was the first ballet pantomime ever made?
A “ballet- pantomime” was created, “The loves of Mars and Venus” in 1717, followed by “Harlequin Sorcerer”, produced by John Rich, who under his stage name “Lun” played Harlequin. Rich was responsible for creating the first “Harlequinade.
The 1862 pantomime version by the prolific pantomime author H.J. Byron saw Dick chased by a villain in a hot air balloon – the year that two English balloonists made the news for ascending to a record-breaking altitude.
What was the name of Harlequin’s first pantomime?
In 1717 at Lincoln’s Inn, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin into the theatres’ pantomimes under the name of “Lun” (for “lunatic”). He gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of The Necromancer; or, History of Dr. Faustus.