Pantoland

[hippolyta_hero]

This year must be the first year I haven't been to see a pantomime since I was about two years old! I love pantomimes... some years I even see two!!

Ah well, at least I took a trip down to London to see the Christmas sights and saw the windows in Selfridges which had gone to Pantoland this year so I did get my fix of dames and villains....

Comments

[rogue_dreams]

These were ace! Thank you so much for sharing.

[hippolyta_hero]

No probs - glad you enjoyed! ^___^ Merry xmas!

[corpselights]

Wow, I must say the whole pantomime concept was something new to me! I had to look it up on Wikipedia, 'cause at first I thought you meant some mime performances :) Now I think we must have had it mentioned sometime during our British History lectures, but that was sooo long ago ;) Anyway, I don't think we have such a tradition anywhere in Poland. Shame really - this seems like great fun, and such a good way to bring the old fairy tales back to life! Here in Poland we tend to neglect the magical and Chrismassy aspect of traditional fairy tales - our Christmas is all about Nativity plays and (rather gloomy-sounding) carols. Despite all the holiday rage in the shops, it's still a time of quiet reflection over sublime matters rather than a happy celebration. When I was a kid, I used to beg my mom to read me the Nutcracker every Christmas, and I must confess it got me much more excited than all the Nativities put together >.And about the pictures - what a colourful mess! I love how grotesque the characters look, they remind me a *tiny*

[hippolyta_hero]

Yeah, they are a uniquely British thing... and a little bizarre viewed from the outside in! I love the chaotic 'misrule' aspect of it all.. the dullest characters with the fewest lines are the straight leads Cinderella or Snow White. The most-loved xters are the Dame (a man in outrageous drag) and the male lead is usually another woman in tights and tall boots! Crazy and comic characters (not in the original stories) like Buttons and Dandini effortlessly upstage prince charming. It's just fantastical. So much winking and o.t.t. humour goes on - it's like a huge in-joke with the audience and it's so interactive. The minute it starts you find yourself heckling and boo-ing the villains and cheering and singing with the (bizarre) heroes. I might see if I can get a ticket to a January performance now!

Those Macfarlane figures are really something - I love seeing people play with traditional xters nad put a new spin on them! And I also read the Nutcracker every Xmas - love it.

[corpselights]

Thanks for this little introduction! It sounds like a really peculiar aspect of British life :) It's actually especially interesting for me - I'm attending an MA seminar on Early Modern England and lately we've been dealing with social anthropology of the carnivals a lot, precisely with the 'misrule' phenomenon! I've learnt a lot about various groups, 'abbeys' and other aspects of it, but strangely enough pantomime was never mentioned... Well, maybe it wasn't that popular yet back in the 1600s ;) Anyway, I'd so love to watch a show like that someday, from your description it sounds just hilarious!

[hobbit_chan]

Oh wow. That window is epic!
You know I haven't been to a panto in years.

[hippolyta_hero]

I just love the panto!! Think I'm gonna try and go in January now as I just feel like I missed out!