Panto

In December I learned about Panto, the British traditional Christmas theatre.  What a fun family treat!  It felt like a circus, with children waving glowsticks, yet the jokes onstage were geared towards adults.  

Here are some of the common elements to Panto:  

• good and bad fairies
• an actor in an animal costume
• the protagonist is a male character played by a woman in tight-fitting clothes
• there is always a female character played by a man
• slapstick scenes, such as the rubber ball fight in the Panto we saw
• audience participation, such as shouting "It's behind you!" Or "Yes it is!" And "No it t'isn't!"

The show we saw was called "Dick Whittington & His Cat," and it was complete with 14th century merchant scenes, dancing rats, a mouse puppet, pirates, a shipwreck, a Beatles song (sung in cat) and lessons in Welsh.  

This Yank's head is still spinning!