Pantomimes - More or Less Over 90 Years?
by Vivyan Ellacott
It's always been known that Pantomime provides a
'lifeline' to many local theatres, and that profits from the panto season
contribute a great deal towards maintaining live theatre through the rest of
the year. The cynical have always been ready to point out that 'panto isn't what it used to be' and they are right! Pantomime as an
industry, a business, an art form and a contributor to the overall
theatrical scene is almost TWICE as important today as it used to be.
I was reading an old article from 1920, praising the
fact that, now the War was over, things were getting back to normal, and the
pantomime season was bigger than ever. More and more performers were
in work, and the largest number of productions for many years was currently
being performed. The article pointed out there were 20 pantomimes
being staged in London and the suburbs, and 103 in provincial theatres up
and down the country. A small number of these were touring pantos,
and, after a few weeks run in their opening venue, would then go on to play
weeks, and even half-weeks in even more venues up and down the country.
That set me wondering how that compares with today
and thanks to the its-behind-you performance diary I made a fascinating
discovery: in 2012 there were 20 pantomimes being staged in London and
what are now called the Outer Boroughs (not the suburbs any more!), and an
astonishing 187 in what are now called the Regions (they are no longer 'provincial' theatres!)
So, ninety-two years later, panto business has grown
enormously with 84 more productions being staffed over the Christmas
period (not counting the touring ones!)
The Figures:
1919:
Total Number of Pantos:
123
Number of subjects:
22
2012:
Total Number of Pantos:
207
Number of subjects:
19
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Top Favourites 1919: Cinderella
20 Babes in the Wood 16 Dick Whittington 15 Aladdin
13 Red Riding Hood
10 Robinson Crusoe 7 Jack & Beanstalk 5 Jack & Jill 5 Goody Two Shoes
5 Mother Goose
5 Sinbad
5 Humpty Dumpty
3 Forty Thieves
2 Sleeping Beauty
2 |
Top Favourites 2012: Cinderella
44 Aladdin
31 Snow White
25 Jack & Beanstalk
23 Peter Pan
22 Sleeping Beauty
21 Dick Whittington
13 Beauty & the Beast
6 Mother Goose
6 Robin Hood
6 Wizard of Oz
2
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Babes in the Wood
Red Riding Hood
Jack and Jill
Goody Two Shoes
Sinbad
Humpty Dumpty
Forty Thieves
WHY did some of the favourites disappear?:
Part of the story of 'Babes in the Wood' has been merged into the Robin Hood
pantomime, and certainly the original tale of murdering two children for
their money doesn't sit too happily in today's world. This might also
account for the loss of 'Red Riding Hood' cutting open the wolf to release
Granny from his stomach is not exactly child friendly for today's audiences.
'Jack and Jill', 'Goody Two Shoes' and 'Humpty
Dumpty' are possibly too lacking in plot to satisfy today's audiences, where
the pantomimes are more plot-driven and rely less on outside speciality acts
and variety turns to pad out the story.
'Forty Thieves' has presumably disappeared on the
grounds of economy ('You four thieves follow me. You other thirty-six
stay in the wings. . .'). 'Sinbad' has always been considered unlucky,
the 'Scottish Play' of the pantomime world and again this is probably on
the grounds of economy, since all those special effects are very expensive.
Pantomimes that have newly appeared:
Snow White
Peter Pan
Beauty and the Beast
Robin Hood
Wizard of Oz
WHERE did these new pantomimes come from?: The
interesting thing about most, if not all, the new subjects is that they have
all been made into successful films the majority as Disney films.
Since most of the original stories were in the public domain, it was
possible to turn them into pantomimes. 'Beauty and the Beast' has
become a favourite subject since the 1991 Disney film, but the copyright
extends to such things as costume design, character names, and songs,
meaning pantomime scripts for this story have to be carefully adapted to
avoid legal problems.
The same applies to 'Snow White' (Disney 1937) ,
for, although the original fairy-tale is in the public domain, the film's
original creations, including the songs and the names of the Seven Dwarves
- Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey remain in
copyright and cannot be used without permission.
'Peter Pan' was an annual Christmas favourite as a
play, and only entered the pantomime world when the copyright expired in
2007. Copyright in 'The Wizard of Oz' story expired in 1956, but
any original plotting, characters and music from the film version are still
subject to control. Purists will argue, of course, that these two
subjects are not actually pantomimes. They are Christmas productions,
and sometimes lack pantomime essentials like a Dame and a songsheet.
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LONDON & SUBURBS
(20
Pantomimes, 10 subjects)
Cinderella (5) Brixton
Croydon Grand King's Hammersmith Woolwich Artillery
Dick Whittington (4)
Borough, Islington Empire Lyceum Walthamstow
Babes in the
Wood
(2) Penge Empire Woolwich Hippodrome
Aladdin (2) Elephant & Castle Kennington
Red Riding Hood (2) Golders Green Hippodrome
Mother Goose (1)
Little Jack Horner (1)
Sinbad (1) Ilford Hippodrome
Goody Two Shoes (1) Kilburn Empire
Robinson Crusoe (1) Tottenham
PROVINCIAL PANTOMIMES
(103 Pantomimes: 22 subjects)
Cinderella (15) Hanley Royal
Babes in the
Wood (14) Blackburn Prince's Bradford Prince's Edinburgh King's Hyde Hippodrome Leigh Royal Macclesfield Royal & Opera House Manchester Queen's Park Hippodrome Radcliffe New Palace
Dick
Whittington (11) Great Malvern Assembly Rooms Southsea Pier Pavilion Walsall Her Majesty's Westcliff on Sea New Palace
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PROVINCIAL PANTOMIMES continued
Aladdin (11) Bilston Hippodrome Folkestone Leas Pavilion Nelson Grand
Little Red Riding Hood (8)
Robinson Crusoe (6) Dewsbury Royal Ilkeston Coliseum 
Jack and the Beanstalk (5) Dublin Queen's Liverpool
Jack and Jill (5) Bognor Pier
Goody Two Shoes (4) Bishop Great
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Mother Goose (4) Bristol Prince's Eccles Crown Torquay Opera House
Sinbad (4)
Humpty Dumpty (3)
Forty Thieves (2)
Aberdeen His Majesty's
Sleeping Beauty (2)
Jack the Giant Killer (1) Buxton Opera House
Little Bo-Peep (1)
Little Jack Horner (1)
Mother Hubbard (1)
Old King Cole (1)
Tom Thumb, or the Old Woman
Who Lived in a Shoe (1)
Tom Tom the Piper's Son (1)
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This page was last updated 17th October 2013