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Pantoland!Dateline: 22nd December, 1997During the sixteenth century (and possibly earlier), the Commedia dell'Arte evolved in Italy. Thought by some to have developed from the Roman Bacchanalia, it included improvisation, dance and knockabout comedy and was built around storylines which involved romantic intrigues, servants outwitting masters, and old men lusting after pretty girls. It became extremely popular outside of Italy, particularly in France. The first record of a commedia troupe appearing in England was in 1577 and there was also a performance before Elizabeth I in 1602. Commedia dell'Arte did not really take off in England, mainly because of the prohibition against women appearing onstage, but some of its characters were assimilated into English theatre, first appearing in William Mountford's Doctor Faustus in 1685, and later in plays by Aphra Behn and Edward Ravenscroft. However it was through another theatrical form that theatre-goers in England got to know Commedia dell'Arte. Italian Night Scenes First seen in this country in performances by French actors at Drury Lane (under the management of Christopher Rich) in 1700, these were comedies in which the plot was communicated by slapstick and dance, rather than dialogue. Considered rather vulgar by many, they consisted basically of a misunderstanding leading to a comedy brawl and were very popular with audiences. One character in particular was loved by playgoers, Harlequin, who was to be a central feature of pantomime right up to the twentieth century. The first typically English show to be the clear ancestor of pantomime was a "ballet-pantomime" (the first use of the word), The Loves of Mars and Venus by John Weaver in 1717. In the same year John Rich staged the first of a series of pantomimes, Harlequin Sorcerer at Lincoln's Inn. In it he combined scenes of Classical mythology with silent scenes telling comic stories of the lovers Harlequin and Columbine, and the whole thing was interspersed with songs and dances. This was the first Harlequinade. In 1732 Rich opened the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden and five years later the Licensing Act confirmed that Covent Garden and Drury Lane (the Patent Theatres) were allowed to present spoken drama. In 1750 another ingredient of the modern panto appeared: in Queen Mab, his first pantomime at Drury Lane, David Garrick began the tradition of lavish scenery painting. The Transformation Scene In 1781 Robinsom Crusoe (in a version by Sheridan at Drury Lane), another far-reaching change took place: instead of the two strands - story and Harlequinade - being kept separate, the opening story characters were revealed, during a transformation scene, as Harlequin and the other characters of the Harlequinade. Clown and Dame During the 1780s other theatres got into the act by disguising their plays as burlettas - song and dance shows - so as to get round the Licensing Act of 1737. In 1800 the great Joseph Grimaldi made his first appearance as Clown at Sadlers Wells (even today traditionalists of the theatre call the pantomime clown the "Joey"), and at the same time the figure of the Dame (played by a man) appeared. At this time pantomimes were being mounted at Christmas and Easter. The early nineteenth century was the golden eras of the Harlequinade and, thanks to Grimaldi, the clown became the favourite character, eclipsing Harlequin himself. Grimaldi was also responsible for a new satirical approach. In 1815 the first female principal boy appeared. The Olympic Theatre J. R. Planché's Olympic Revels at the Olympic Theatre (run by the first ever female London theatre manager, Madame Vestris) used extremely lavish scenery and featured Madame Vestris herself in male roles. It also started the decine of the Harlquinade, a decline which was hastened in 1837 with the death of Grimaldi. No one could take his place, and the Clown's role began to be less important and spectacle - inclusding speciality acts - took over from comedy as the centrepiece. In 1843 the floodgates of change were opened with the replacement of the Licensing Act by the Theatre Regulation Act, which allowed all theatres to present a range of entertainment, subject - of course! - to the approval of the Lord Chamberlain. By the fifties pantomimes had become associated with Christmas only and spoken dialogue was an essential ingredient. Harlequinades got shorter and shorter (and the actors who played in them were paid less and less!). Twenty years later pantos were lasting three hours or more and were being targeted on audiences of children. They became more and more lavish, with flying ballets, spectacular scenery and casts of hundreds. In 1879 Augustus Harris, manager of Drury Lane, introduced the first Music Hall stars into pantos, and just four years later the Harlequinade was dropped. By this time, all the ingredients of the modern panto were in place, and although there were subequent developments, by 1888 when Dan Leno first appeared in panto at Drury Lane, what we now know as pantomime was up and running! Some other interesting dates:
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