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Pantomime (/ˈpæntəˌmaɪm/;^[1] informallypanto)^[2] is a type ofmusical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining broad andtopical humour andcross-dressing actors with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable orfolk tale.^[3][4] Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre developed in England in the 18th century in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and to shout out phrases to the performers.

The origins of pantomime reach back toancient Greek classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th centurycommedia dell'arte tradition of Italy and partly from other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-centurymasques andmusic hall.^[3] An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was theharlequinade.^[5] Modern pantomime is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season, and includes songs, gags,slapstick comedy and dancing.

Outside the British Isles, the word "pantomime" is often understood to meanmiming, rather than the theatrical form described here.^[1]

The word pantomime was adopted from theLatin wordpantomimus,^[6] which in turn derives from theGreek wordπαντόμιμος (pantomimos), consisting ofπαντο- (panto-) meaning "all", andμῖμος (mimos), meaning a dancer who acted all the roles or all the story.^[7][8][9] TheRoman pantomime drew upon theGreek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted inAncient Rome and little is known of it in pre-Roman Greece.^[10][11] The English word came to be applied to the performance itself.^{[citation needed]} According to a lost oration byAelius Aristides, the pantomime was known for its erotic content and the effeminacy of its dancing;^[12] Aristides's work was responded to byLibanius, in his oration "On Behalf of the Dancers", written probably around 361 AD.^{[citation needed]}

Roman pantomime was a production, usually based upon myth or legend, for a solo male dancer—clad in a long silk tunic and a short mantle (pallium) that was often used as a"prop"—accompanied by a sunglibretto (called thefabula saltica or "dance-story") rendered by a singer orchorus (thoughLucian states that originally the pantomime himself was the singer).^[13] Music was supplied by flute and thepulse of an iron-shod shoe called ascabellum. Performances might be in a private household, with minimal personnel, or else lavish theatrical productions involving a large orchestra and chorus and sometimes an ancillary actor. The dancer danced all the roles, relying on masks, stock poses and gestures and a hand-language (cheironomy) so complex and expressive that the pantomime's hands were commonly compared to an eloquent mouth.^[14] Pantomime differed frommime by its more artistic nature and relative lack of farce and coarse humour,^[8] though these were not absent from some productions.^{[citation needed]}

Roman pantomime was immensely popular from the end of the first century BC until the end of the sixth century AD,^[14] a form of entertainment that spread throughout the empire where, because of its wordless nature, it did more than any other art to foster knowledge of the myths and Roman legends that formed its subject-matter – tales such as those of the love ofVenus and Mars and ofDido and Aeneas – while in Italy its chief exponents were celebrities, often the protegés of influential citizens, whose followers wore badges proclaiming their allegiance and engaged in street-fights with rival groups, while its accompanying songs became widely known.^{[failed verification]} Yet, because of the limits imposed upon Roman citizens' dance, the populism of its song-texts and other factors, the art was as much despised as adored,^[14] and its practitioners were usually slaves or freedmen.^{[citation needed]}

Because of the low status and the disappearance of itslibretti, the Roman pantomime received little modern scholarly attention until the late 20th century, despite its great influence upon Roman culture as perceived in Roman art, in statues of famous dancers, graffiti, objects and literature.^[7] After the renaissance of classical culture, Roman pantomime was a decisive influence upon modern Europeanconcert dance, helping to transform ballet from a mere entertainment, a display of technical virtuosity, into the dramaticballet d'action. It became an antecedent which, through writers and ballet-masters of the 17th and 18th centuries such asClaude-François Ménestrier (1631–1705), John Weaver (1673–1760),Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810) and Gasparo Angiolini (1731–1803), earned it respectability and attested to the capability of dance to render complex stories and express human emotion.^[14]

In the Middle Ages, theMummers Play was a traditional English folk play, based loosely on theSaint George and the Dragon legend, usually performed during Christmas gatherings, which contained the origin of many of the archetypal elements of the pantomime, such as stage fights, coarse humour and fantastic creatures,^[15]gender role reversal, and good defeating evil.^[16] Precursors of pantomime also included themasque, which grew in pomp and spectacle from the 15th to the 17th centuries.^[3][17]

The development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continentalcommedia dell'arte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in theEarly Modern Period. This was a "comedy of professional artists" travelling from province to province in Italy and then France, who improvised and told comic stories that held lessons for the crowd, changing the main character depending on where they were performing. Each "scenario" used some of the same stock characters. These included theinnamorati (young lovers); thevecchi (old men) such asPantalone; andzanni (servants) such asArlecchino,Colombina,Scaramouche andPierrot.^[3][18][19] Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included theHarlequin character.^[20]

In the 17th century, adaptations of the commedia characters became familiar in English entertainments.^[21] From these, the standard Englishharlequinade developed, depicting the eloping loversHarlequin andColumbine, pursued by the girl's fatherPantaloon and his comic servantsClown andPierrot.^[21][22] In English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead.^[23] The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, except that a bumbling policeman was added to the chase.^[21]

In the first two decades of the 18th century, two rival London theatres,Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane (thepatent theatres) presented productions that began seriously with classical stories that contained elements of opera and ballet and ended with a comic "night scene".Tavern Bilkers, byJohn Weaver, the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage.^[24] This production was not a success, and Weaver waited until 1716 to produce his next pantomimes, includingThe Loves of Mars and Venus – a new Entertainment in Dancing after the manner of the Antient Pantomimes.^[18] The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject ofPerseus and Andromeda. After this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane.^[25] In 1717 at Lincoln's Inn, actor and managerJohn Rich introducedHarlequin into the theatres' pantomimes under the name of "Lun" (for "lunatic").^[26][27] He gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production ofThe Necromancer; or, History of Dr. Faustus.^[28]

These early pantomimes were silent, or "dumb show", performances consisting of only dancing and gestures. Spoken drama was allowed in London only in the two (later three) patent theatres until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843.^[29] A large number of French performers played in London following the suppression of unlicensed theatres in Paris.^[18] Although this constraint was only temporary, English pantomimes remained primarily visual for some decades before dialogue was introduced. An 18th-century author wrote ofDavid Garrick: "He formed a kind of harlequinade, very different from that which is seen at theOpéra-Comique in Paris, where harlequin and all the characters speak."^[30] The majority of these early pantomimes were re-tellings of a story from ancient Greek or Roman literature, with a break between the two acts during which the harlequinade's zany comic business was performed. The theatre historian David Mayer explains the use of the "batte" or slapstick and thetransformation scene that led to the harlequinade:

Rich gave his Harlequin the power to create stage magic in league with offstage craftsmen who operated trick scenery. Armed with a magic sword or bat (actually a slapstick), Rich's Harlequin treated his weapon as a wand, striking the scenery to sustain the illusion of changing the setting from one locale to another. Objects, too, were transformed by Harlequin's magic bat.^[18]

Pantomime gradually became more topical and comic, often involving spectacular and elaborate theatrical effects as far as possible.Colley Cibber,David Garrick and others competed with Rich and produced their own pantomimes, and pantomime continued to grow in popularity.^[31]

By the early 1800s, the pantomime's classical stories were often supplanted by stories adapted from Europeanfairy tales,fables,folk tales, classic English literature ornursery rhymes.^[18][32] Also, theharlequinade grew in importance until it often was the longest and most important part of the entertainment. Pantomimes usually had dual titles that gave an often humorous idea of both the pantomime story and the harlequinade. "Harlequin and ________", or "Harlequin _______; or, the ________". In the second case, harlequin was used as an adjective, followed by words that described the pantomime "opening", for example:Harlequin Cock Robin and Jenny Wren; or, Fortunatus and the Water of Life, the Three Bears, the Three Gifts, the Three Wishes, and the Little Man who Woo'd the Little Maid. Harlequin was the first word (or the first word after the "or") because Harlequin was initially the most important character. The titles continued to include the word Harlequin even after the first decade of the 1800s, whenJoseph Grimaldi came to dominate London pantomime and made the character, Clown, a colourful agent of chaos, as important in the entertainment as Harlequin. At the same time, Harlequin began to be portrayed in a more romantic and stylised way.^[33]

Grimaldi's performances elevated the role by "acute observation upon the foibles and absurdities of society, and his happy talent of holding them up to ridicule. He is the finest practical satyrist [sic] that ever existed. ... He was so extravagantly natural, that the most saturnine looker-on acknowledged his sway; and neither the wise, the proud, or the fair, the young nor the old, were ashamed to laugh till tears coursed down their cheeks at Joe and his comicalities."^[34] Grimaldi's performances were important in expanding the importance of the harlequinade until it dominated the pantomime entertainment.^[35]

By the 1800s, therefore, children went to the theatre around the Christmas and New Year holiday (and often at Easter or other times) primarily to witness the craziness of the harlequinade chase scene. It was the most exciting part of the "panto", because it was fast-paced and included spectacular scenic magic as well asslapstick comedy, dancing and acrobatics. The presence of slapstick in this part of the show evolved from the characters found in Italian commedia dell'arte.^[18] The plot of the harlequinade was relatively simple; the star-crossed lovers, Harlequin and Columbine, run away from Columbine's foolish father, Pantaloon, who is being slowed down in his pursuit of them by his servant, Clown, and by a bumbling policeman. After the time of Grimaldi, Clown became the principal schemer trying to thwart the lovers, and Pantaloon was merely his assistant.^[35]

The opening "fairy story" was often blended with a story about a love triangle: a "cross-grained" old father who owns a business and whose pretty daughter is pursued by two suitors. The one she loves is poor but worthy, while the father prefers the other, a wealthy fop. Another character is a servant in the father's establishment. Just as the daughter is to be forcibly wed to the fop, or just as she was about to elope with her lover, the good fairy arrives.^[34] This was followed by what was often the most spectacular part of the production, the magical transformation scene.^[36] In early pantomimes, Harlequin possessed magical powers that he used to help himself and his love interest escape. He would tap his wooden sword (a derivative of the Commedia dell'arte slapstick or "batte") on the floor or scenery to make a grand transition of the world around him take place. The scene would switch from being inside some house or castle to, generally speaking, the streets of the town with storefronts as the backdrop. The transformation sequence was presided over by a Fairy Queen orFairy Godmother character.^[18] The good fairy magically transformed the leads from the opening fairy story into their new identities as the harlequinade characters. Following is an example of the speech that the fairy would give during this transformation:

Lovers stand forth. With you we shall begin.
You will be fair Columbine – you Harlequin.
King Jamie there, the bonnie Scottish loon,
Will be a famouscheild for Pantaloon.
Though Guy Fawkes now is saved from rocks and axe,
I think he should pay the powder-tax.
His guyish plots blown up – nay, do not frown;
You've always been a guy – now be a Clown.^[36]

This passage is from a pantomime adaptation of theGuy Fawkes story. The fairy creates the characters of the harlequinade in the most typical fashion of simply telling the characters what they will change into. The principal male and female characters from the beginning plotline, often both played by young women,^[29] became the lovers Columbine and Harlequin, the mother or father of Columbine became Pantaloon, and the servant or other comic character became Clown. They would transition into the new characters as the scenery around them changed and would proceed in the "zany fun" section of the performance.^[36] From the time of Grimaldi, Clown would see the transformed setting and cry: "Here We Are Again!"^[35] The harlequinade began with various chase scenes, in which Harlequin and Columbine manage to escape from the clutches of Clown and Pantaloon, despite the acrobatic leaps of the former through windows, atop ladders, often because of well-meaning but misguided actions of the policeman. Eventually, there was a "dark scene", such as a cave or forest, in which the lovers were caught, and Harlequin's magic wand was seized from his grasp by Clown, who would flourish it in triumph. The good fairy would then reappear, and once the father agreed to the marriage of the young lovers, she would transport the whole company to a grand final scene.^[34]

Despite its visible decline by 1836, the pantomime still fought to stay alive.^[37] After 1843, when theatres other than the original patent theatres were permitted to perform spoken dialogue, the importance of the silent harlequinade began to decrease, while the importance of the fairy-tale part of the pantomime increased.^[32] Two writers who helped to elevate the importance and popularity of the fairy-tale portion of the pantomime wereJames Planché andHenry James Byron. They emphasized puns and humorous word play, a tradition that continues in pantomime today.^[32] As manager of Drury Lane in the 1870s,Augustus Harris produced and co-wrote a series of extraordinarily popular pantomimes, focusing on the spectacle of the productions, that pushed this transition by emphasizing comic business in the pantomime opening and grand processionals.^[38] By the end of the 19th century, the harlequinade had become merely a brief epilogue to the pantomime, dwindling into a brief display of dancing and acrobatics.^[39] It lingered for a few decades longer but finally disappeared, although a few of its comic elements had been incorporated into the pantomime stories.^[23] The last harlequinade was played at theLyceum Theatre in 1939.^[40] Well-known pantomime artists of this era includedWilliam Payne,^[41] his sons, thePayne Brothers,^[42]Vesta Tilley,Dan Leno,Herbert Campbell,Little Tich,^[38]Clarice Mayne,Dorothy Ward^[43] andCullen and Carthy.^[44]

Traditionally performed aroundChristmas with family audiences, British pantomime continues as a popular form of theatre, incorporating song, dance, buffoonery,slapstick,cross-dressing, in-jokes, topical references, audience participation, and mildsexual innuendo.^[45] Scottish comedianCraig Ferguson, in his 2020 memoir, summarizes contemporary pantomime as classic folklore and fairy tales loosely retold in a slapstick theatrical comedy-musical, writing: "ThinkMamma Mia! featuring theThree Stooges but with everyone's back catalogue, not justABBA's", and furthermore including audience participation reminiscent of showings of the filmThe Rocky Horror Picture Show.^[46]

Pantomime story lines and scripts usually make no direct reference to Christmas and are almost always based on traditional children's stories, particularly thefairy tales ofCharles Perrault,Joseph Jacobs,Hans Christian Andersen and theGrimm Brothers. Some of the most popular pantomime stories includeCinderella,Aladdin,Dick Whittington and His Cat andSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs,^[5] as well asJack and the Beanstalk,Peter Pan,Puss in Boots andSleeping Beauty.^[47] Other traditional stories includeMother Goose,Beauty and the Beast,Robinson Crusoe,The Wizard of Oz,Babes in the Wood (combined with elements ofRobin Hood),Little Red Riding Hood,Goldilocks and the Three Bears,Sinbad,St. George and the Dragon,Bluebeard,The Little Mermaid andThumbelina.^[27][48] Prior to about 1870, many other stories were made into pantomimes.^[32][49]

While the familiarity of the audience with the original children's story is generally assumed, plot lines are almost always adapted for comic or satirical effect, and characters and situations from other stories are often interpolated into the plot. For instance "panto" versions ofAladdin may include elements fromAli Baba and the Forty Thieves or otherArabian Nights tales; whileJack and the Beanstalk might include references to nursery rhymes and other children's stories involving characters called "Jack", such asJack and Jill. Certain familiar scenes tend to recur, regardless of plot relevance, andhighly unlikely resolution of the plot is common. Straight retellings of the original stories are rare.^[50]

The form has a number of conventions, some of which have changed or weakened a little over the years, and by no means all of which are obligatory. Some of these conventions were once common to other genres of popular theatre such asmelodrama.^[51]

• The leading male juvenile character (theprincipal boy) is traditionally played by a young woman in male garments (such asbreeches). Her romantic partner is usually the principal girl, a femaleingénue.
• An older woman (thepantomime dame – often the hero's mother) is usually played by a man indrag.^[52]
• Risquédouble entendre, often wringing innuendo out of perfectly innocent phrases. This is not intended to be understood by children in the audience and is for the entertainment of the adults.
• Audience participation, including calls of "He's behind you!" (or "Look behind you!"), and "Oh, yes it is!" and "Oh, no it isn't!" The audience is always encouraged to hiss or jeer at the villain and "awwwww" the poor victims, such as the rejected dame, who is usually enamoured with one of the male characters.^[53]
• Music may be original but is more likely to combine well-known tunes withre-written lyrics. At least one "audience participation" song is traditional: one half of the audience may be challenged to sing "their" chorus louder than the other half. Children in the audience may even be invited on stage to sing along with members of the cast at the end of the performance.
• The animal, played by an actor in "animal skin" or animal costume. It is often apantomime horse or cow (though could even be a camel if appropriate to the setting), played by two actors in a single costume, one as the head and front legs, the other as the body and back legs.
• The good fairy enters from stage right (left from the audience's perspective) and the villain enters from stage left (right from the audience's perspective). This convention goes back to the medieval mystery plays, where the right side of the stage symbolised Heaven and the left side symbolised Hell.
• A slapstick comedy routine (slosh scene) may be performed, often a decorating or baking scene, with humour based on throwing messy substances. Until the 20th century, British pantomimes often concluded with aharlequinade, a free-standing entertainment ofslapstick. Since then, the slapstick has been incorporated into the main body of the show.
• In the 19th century, until the 1880s, pantomimes typically included a transformation scene in which a Fairy Queen magically transformed the pantomime characters into the characters of the harlequinade, who then performed the harlequinade.^[39][52]
• The Chorus, who can be consideredextras on-stage, and often appear in multiple scenes (but as different characters) and who perform a variety of songs and dances throughout the show. Because of their multiple roles, they may have as much stage-time as the lead characters themselves.
• At some point during the performance, characters including the Dame and the comic will sit on a bench and sing a cheerful song to forget their fears. The thing they fear, often a ghost, appears behind them, but at first the characters ignore the audience's warnings of danger. The characters soon circle the bench, followed by the ghost, as the audience cries "It's behind you!" One by one, the characters see the ghost and run off, until at last the Dame and the ghost come face to face, whereupon the ghost, frightened by the visage of the Dame, runs away.^[53]

Another pantomime tradition is to engage celebrity guest stars, a practice that dates back to the late 19th century, when Augustus Harris was proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and hired well-known variety artists for his pantomimes. Contemporary pantomime productions are often adapted to allow the star to showcase their well-known act, even when such a spot has little relation to the pantomime's plot. CriticMichael Billington has argued that if the star enters into the spirit of the entertainment, he or she likely adds to its overall effect, while if it becomes a "showcase for a star" who "stands outside the action", the celebrity's presence likely detracts, notwithstanding the marketing advantage that the star brings to the piece.^[54] Billington said thatIan McKellen in a 2004Aladdin "lets down his hair and lifts up his skirt to reveal a nifty pair of legs and an appetite fordouble entendre: when told by decorators that 'your front porch could do with a good lick', McKellen adopts a suitable look of mock-outrage. ... At least we can tell our grandchildren that we saw McKellen'sTwankey and it was huge."^[54]

The main roles within pantomime are usually as follows:^[55]

Pantomime is performed in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Australasia, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, Malta and Andorra, among other places. It is performed mostly during the Christmas and New Year season.^[56][57]

Many theatres in cities and towns throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland continue to present an annual professional pantomime. Pantomime is also popular withamateur dramatics societies throughout the UK and Ireland, and during the pantomime season (roughly speaking, late November to February) productions are staged in many village halls and similar venues across the country.

Kitty Gurnos-Davies states in her doctoral dissertation that pantomime is responsible for 20% of all live performances in the UK in any one year.^[58] The 2018–2019 season saw pantomime performances generating over £60m for the first time in recorded British history.^[59]

It was first produced more than a decade ago in Andorra by the English-speaking Mums' group, from the British expatriate community, in the Teatre de les Fontetes in the parish of La Massana. Now it is produced by English and English-speaking international volunteers as part of the Advent celebrations supported by the Comú de La Massana,^[60] the local businesses^[61] and the Club International d'Andorra^[62] to raise money for the less privileged children of Andorra.^[63]

Pantomimes in Australia at Christmas were once very popular, but the genre has declined greatly since the middle of the 20th century. Several later professional productions did not recover their costs.^[64]

Christmas pantomimes are performed yearly at theHudson Village Theatre in Quebec.^[65] Since 1996,Ross Petty Productions has staged pantomimes at Toronto'sElgin Theatre each Christmas season.^[66] Pantomimes imported from England were produced at theRoyal Alexandra Theatre in the 1980s.^[67][68] The White Rock Players Club in White Rock, BC have presented an annual pantomime in the Christmas season since 1954.^[69] The Royal Canadian Theatre Company produces pantomimes in British Columbia, written by Ellie King.^[70] Since 2013, Theatre Replacement has been producing East Van Panto in partnership with The Cultch in Vancouver.^[71][72]

The National Pantomime of Jamaica was started in 1941 by educatorsHenry Fowler and Greta Fowler, pioneers of theLittle Theatre Movement in Jamaica. Among the first players wasLouise Bennett-Coverley. Other notable players have includedOliver Samuels,Charles Hyatt,Willard White,Rita Marley andDawn Penn. The annual pantomime opens onBoxing Day at the Little Theatre inKingston and is strongly influenced by aspects of Jamaican culture, folklore and history.^[73][74]

Pantomime was imported to Malta in theBritish colonial era for a British expatriate audience and, in the early 20th century, adapted by Maltese producers for Maltese audiences.^[75] While in many former territories of the British empire pantomime declined in popularity after independence, as it was seen as a symbol of colonial rule, the genre remains strong in Malta.^[76]

Pantomime was brought to Switzerland by British immigrants and is performed regularly inGeneva since 1972 andBasel since 1994, in a hangar atBasel Airport. TheGeneva Amateur Operatic Society has performed pantomimes annually since 1972.^[77] Since 2009, the Basel English Panto Group^[78] has performed at the Scala Basel each December.^[79]

Annual pantomimes have been running at Christmas in the UAE (and elsewhere in the GCC) since 2007.^[80] They are mainly performed by Dubai Panto^[81] (a trade name of h2 Productions.ae^[82]) in conjunction with Outside the Box Events LLC.^[83] They have increased to three pantomimes at Christmas since 2021: two in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi.^[84][85][86] One of the locations for Dubai pantomimes is at the theatre on theQueen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship.^[87] The other is in the theatre at the Erth Hotel, Abu Dhabi (formerly the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel).^[88]

Pantomime as performed in Britain was seldom seen in the United States until recent decades. As a consequence, Americans commonly understand the word "pantomime" to refer to the art of mime as it is practised bymime artists.^[1]

According to Russell A. Peck of theUniversity of Rochester, the earliest pantomime productions in the US wereCinderella pantomime productions in New York in March 1808, New York again in August 1808, Philadelphia in 1824, and Baltimore in 1839.^[89] A production at Olympic Theatre in New York ofHumpty Dumpty ran for at least 943 performances between 1868 and 1873,^[90] (one source says 1,200 performances),^[5] becoming the longest-running pantomime in history.^[5]

In 1993, there was a production ofCinderella at theUCLA Freud Theatre, starringZsa Zsa Gabor.^[91] Since 2004,People's Light and Theatre Company, inMalvern, Pennsylvania, has been presenting an annual Christmas pantomime season.^[92] Stages Repertory Theatre inHouston, Texas, has been performing original pantomime-style musicals during the Christmas holidays since 2008.^[93]Lythgoe Family Productions has produced Christmas pantomimes since 2010 in California.^[94]

• ITV Panto
• Victorian burlesque
• Weihnachtsmärchen (Christmas fairy tale)
• Purim spiel

• Broadbent, R.J. (1901).A History of Pantomime. London:Simpkin Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd.
• Chaffee, Judith and Olly Crick,The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell'Arte (Routledge, 2015)ISBN 978-0-415-74506-2
• Hall, E. and R. Wyles, eds.,New Directions in Ancient Pantomime (Oxford, 2008).
• Lawner, Lynne (1998).Harlequin on the Moon. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
• Mayer, David III (1969).Harlequin in His Element: The English Pantomime, 1806–1836. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.ISBN 0-674-37275-1.
• McConnell Stott, Andrew (2009).The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi. Edinburgh: Canongate Books.ISBN 978-1-84767-295-7.
• Richards, Jeffrey.The Golden Age of Pantomime: Slapstick, Spectacle and Subversion in Victorian England (I. B. Tauris, 2014).ISBN 1780762933
• Smith, Winifred (1964).The Commedia dell'Arte. New York: Benjamin Blom.
• Wilson, A. E. (1949).The Story of Pantomime. London: Home & Van Thal.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPantomime.

• MusicalTalk Podcast – discussing British pantomime, its origins and traditions.
• Geneva Amateur Operatic Society
• Pantomime Shows in UK.Archived 2009-11-26 at theWayback Machine.
• The Secret Pantomime Society
• Theatre Britain
• Madrid Players
• Panto in Wales seen through American eyes
• "Pantomime" (Archived 2011-11-08 at theWayback Machine) by Catherine Haill, V & A
• "The Rise and Fall of the Pantomime Harlequinade"

• Pantomime
• Comedy genres
• Theatrical genres
• 19th-century theatre
• Christmas onstage
• Christmas in the United Kingdom
• Performing arts in the United Kingdom

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