A History of British Pantomime

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Jill Sullivan (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Domains

Performing Arts

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1500-

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

In the twenty-first century, pantomime as a genre is generally understood as a particularly British theatrical tradition that became established in the late eighteenth century. Its antecedents lay in the European Commedia dell’arte of the Renaissance, a performance genre itself potentially influenced by elements of classical theatre. The history of British pantomime has been one of innovation, frequently shaped by the social, economic and political world beyond the theatre, but also marked by debates centering on the cultural standing of the genre and specific performers.

From Greek Origins to Renaissance Italy

In seeking a history of the pantomime before the Commedia dell’arte of the sixteenth and seventeenth …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

4063 words

Citation: Sullivan, Jill. "A History of British Pantomime". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 October 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=812, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Save this article