Pantomime

Pantomime, word which has drastically changed its meaning over the years. It is derived from the Latin pantomimus, ‘player of many parts’, but a misunderstanding as to the art of the Roman player of pantomime led to its adoption as the description of a story told in dancing only. A confusion in the public mind between such ballets and the story-telling dances of the harlequinade led to the adoption of the term ‘pantomime’ for this offshoot of the commedia dell'arte, which became so popular in England when performed by John Rich and others that it was eventually lengthened to provide a whole evening's entertainment. To lessen the burden on the dancers, the harlequinade was preceded at first by a classical fable which gave some Immortal the opportunity of handing Harlequin his magic wand. In the 19th century this opening scene was elaborated (and incidentally gave rise to the fashionable burlesque and extravaganza), and the subjects gradually changed to fairy-tales, actresses being cast as the young heroes, the so-called principal boys. At the same time the comic elderly characters, who had previously been played by men, became the prerogative of the knockabout comedian and were henceforth known as Dames. The success of the fairy-tale openings—Cinderella, Babes in the Wood, Aladdin, Red Riding Hood—caused them to be spun out for so long that the harlequinade was relegated to a short scene at the end, and although it lingered on in some theatres, particularly in the provinces, it eventually disappeared. Pantomimes in their new and entirely English form were soon associated with Christmas, and most theatres produced them. They usually opened on Boxing Day (26 Dec.) and ran till March, some actors playing in nothing else. With the importation of speciality acts from the music-halls, the show became such a hotchpotch of incongruous elements—slapstick, romance, topical songs, male and female impersonation, acrobatics, splendid settings and costumes, precision and ballet dancing, trick scenery, and transformation scenes—that for a time the phrase ‘a proper pantomime’ was used outside the theatre in colloquial English to signify ‘a state of confusion’.

The word pantomime was also used in France for the wordless Pierrot plays of Deburau until the genre disappeared. Its most famous production was L'Enfant prodigue (The Prodigal Son), widely performed during the 1890s with a girl as Pierrot. Fox also staged pantomimes in the USA, while another meaning was given to the word during the craze for melodrama, when it signified the use of dumb show to convey ideas wordlessly. In this sense it is an important element in all acting and dancing, particularly ballet. Modern performers in dumb show, in order to distinguish their art from the popular idea of pantomime, describe it as mime.