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Spectacle and Illusion
Victorian pantomime slowly evolved to look like the pantomime we know today. The Harlequinades eventually died out and pantomime stories such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella began to dominate. Writers H.J.Byron and J.R.Planché reworked these old stories to create new pantomimes. They specialised in puns and word plays, and the tradition of puns in pantomime comes from them.
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Cinderella Poster, 1895 |
By the middle of the 19th century, pantomime had become so popular that it extended over the whole evening's entertainment, sometimes lasting as long as five hours. Pantomimes also became more and more elaborate, with spectacular scene changes, beautiful costumes and huge casts. Sometimes 600 actors would perform in one pantomime in the same evening. The most elaborate Victorian pantomimes were at Drury Lane Theatre in London.
Principal Boys and Pantomime Dames evolved to become the new stock characters of pantomimes.
Pantomime also began to be associated with children and Christmas. It became a tradition for the pantomime to open on Boxing Day, sometimes with two performances – afternoon and evening.
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A Christmas Transformation |
Augustus Harris at Drury Lane Theatre invited the stars of the music halls to perform in pantomimes, bringing with them their own acts. Two of the most famous music hall actors of the time who starred in Drury Lane pantomimes were Marie Lloyd and Dan Leno.
