Panto:
About Commedia Dell’Arte:
Commedia Del’Arte first originated in the 16th century in Italy. It translates as comedy of art and theatre of the professional. It was a popular theatre form that explored and showed acting as an ensemble, which we use in plays and pantos so that you can clearly identify each character and see what message they’re trying to get across to the audience. The performers in Commedia Dell’Arte believe that how the performance was built up and structured was very important, they would wear masks with different facial expressions so they could get into character and people could clearly see what they’re trying to portray. It was also the first time that women were seen to be acting on stage inspiring from Shakespeare’s plays.
Commedia Del’Arte Character profiles:
Zanni (servant):
The Zanni’s appearance is monkey like with a bent spine, like a hunchback. He is very lazy but moves quickly. He doesn’t often make eye contact with other people and he’s loud and coarse like a market seller.
He comes across as old and grumpy but deep down he wants to help people so he can get paid and be happy like everyone else. He has good morals however people don’t understand him and just treat him badly because he’s a servant.
Il Dottore:
Il Dottore’s appearance shows he has a very large belly which sticks out when he walks. He seems suspicious and menacing and one of his hands is often stroking his beard.
He always wants to be centre of attention and idolise power so he can mess things up for everyone. We base his evilness on the fact that he was probably brought up with a bad background so thats how he thinks he’s meant to be.
Pantalone (old man):
The old man is often lonely and solitary. He looks moody and serious, kind of like the character scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He looks quite unkept, not very clean and he’s bent over with one hand on his cane.
He leans forward with his nose in the air, trying to see everything going on. He has a high pitch squeaky voice and stands very still when he speaks
Il Capitano:
The Captain stands with his feet apart, with his chest out and back straight, but really he’s quite small. He is confident looking and acts tough, however in reality he’s a coward and runs away from danger and is really scared. He speaks loudly and slow when he’s calm but when threatend his voice goes into a high pitch squeak.
Isabella (The damsel)
The damsel (usually a princess) is very melodramatic and acts like a drama queen. She is very gentle and well spoken. She is stereotypically pretty and often fainting because she always wants to be centre of attention.
When she walks she picks the skirt of her dress up with both hands and teeters on her tip toes. She was bought up in as very rich family and her life is perfect. She is constantly waiting for her prince charming to come into her life and ‘save her’.
Flavio (the male lover)
The same as the Damsel, the Male lover is also stereotypically handsome and often called ‘charming’. He is self centred and vain and just wants to find the love of his life. He is also very melodramatic and walks on his tip toes.
He uses advanced words and sounds well spoken, he also often recites poetry. He always seems loved up with the princess making it feels awkward for the audience.
Healthy voice notes:
Phillips, P. (2011). Singing for dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Publishing.
‘Healthy voice’ from the book (singing for dummies, Ps Phillips, 2011). Here are some notes that we took: You have to be aware of everyday activities, you could potentially be doing something that could be harming your voice. Here as some bad things that are bad for your voice and effect your lungs. Some things we found were: Alcohol, this is bad for your voice because it makes your blood vessels dial and when they dilate the blood thins and comes to the surface, which makes you more susceptible to a haemorrhage on your vocal chords. There fore you should limit your alcohol and drink plenty of water on days where you choose to drink. Another thing thats really bad is cigarettes, it causes inflammation of the tissues in the throat and long term use or association can permanently damage your vocal chords. Dairy also builds up mucus in your throat so if you’re going to perform that day you shouldn’t have dairy, just water. Some tips/healthy things for your voice that we learnt were that: To use full volume hen you need to be heard, but dont scream/ talk at a reasonable volume don’t be loud all the time, notice your articulation as you speak, avoid speaking with tension.
Being tired after a rehearsal is normal but if your voice doesn’t go back to normal and is still sore and you’re having trouble singing then you may want to see a doctor. Another thing is that you need plenty of sleep, your voice needs rest, otherwise your throat has no time to heal. if you do not get enough sleep it can make your voice and brain react more slowly, making it hard to sing your best. Also, keep your emotional life in check, If you’re stressed and angry find ways to release this so you can sing properly and freely and sound happy, you can even use singing as a mean of expression.
Research Aladdin
My own character profile:
Characters name: My Character is Rose.
How old are you?: She is 18 years old and the oldest of the 3 handmaidens.
Where do you live?: She lives in the Palace with the Princess.
How would you describe your character?: My character is quite relaxed and mature, but still has a girly side to her.
How intelligent are you and how much education do you have?: Rose and all the other handmaidens are clever because they’ve been brought up in a very posh and well spoken environment, so they’ve had good education their whole life.
What is your social status?: My character is wealthy because they all live with the princess meaning they have a-lot of money and are quite spoilt.
How would you describe your family?: Posh and have strict parents, also the princess can only marry a prince!
What do you do for a living?: For a living they don’t have a job but they have to constantly make sure the princess is looking perfect by doing her hair makeup and making sure her clothes are perfectly neat.
What kind of clothes do you prefer?: All 3 handmaidens wear the same top but in different colours to show they’re the same, the top also has gems on it to show they’re royal.
What is your sense of humor like? Are you an emotionally expressive person? in what days do you express your emotions?: My character isn’t as child-like as the others therefore i act more grown up about things, however the other girls would probably make more of a fuss than I would in a situation.
What is your best and worst trait?: My best trait is that i understand and act older than the others which is good because i can handle situations, but my worst trait is that i worry too much and thinking that i know whats best for the princess.
What do you love to do?: Rose loves to be with the other handmaidens and have a good time and all they get on really well. They also spend a lot of time with the princess too so they have to do a lot of things for her.
Who or what bugs me the most?: The thing that bugs me the most is when the other girls act silly and arent sensible when something serious happens, like when Aladdin comes in and Pansy tries to flirt with him!
What about yourself are you most proud of?: Im most proud of my job because im lucky that i get to live in a Palace with the princess and not everyone gets to do this, this makes us all feel privileged to be able to be here.
How would you like to be remembered?: I’d like to be remembered as a nice girl who never got into any arguments or trouble and someone who was loyal to her friends and family.
What frightens you?: What frightens me is that i’ll lose my family because the princess will go live happily ever after and we will have no one to be with and no purpose in life.
What do you want more than everything/goals?: I want to be able to get married and have an amazing job (better than the one i have now) and live a happy life outside of the palace but still be wealthy.
What is your posture like?: My posture is very good and up-right, they have to be because they are handmaidens meaning they have to look perfect all the time.
What are some of your mannerisms?: My character is very polite and sweet, they don’t ever want to hurt anyone and just wants the best for everyone.
What does your voice sound like?: Her voice is high pitched, all the three handmaidens sound similar because they’re really feminine.
Scene 4: Rose, Pansy and Daisy are in this scene because we walk on into the palace gardens talking about what were going to do for the Empresses party. We are in the palace with the Princess and the she is talking about how she wants to go outside the palace walls and how she’s fed up of having no one. We talk to her about how she wouldn’t like it outside the palace and then suddenly Aladdin turns up and we try convince the princess its not a good idea to stay with him but she wants too.
Fabulous Baby: In the beginning Rose and Pansy are selling flowers in the marketplace, everyone is in this scene as we are meant to be market street people. We are also in this scene because this is when Widow Twankey introduces herself. At the beginning we don’t really acknowledge the fact she’s dancing but then we all gradually join in and make it a massive number. We are in the streets when this happens, we all just want to dance and join in which sets the scene and makes a great start to introducing herself by doing a big number.
Wedding Prep Scene: This scene is set in the Palace, it is one of the last scenes just before the Wedding Day finale, we are in this scene because this is when Aladdin and Blossom get married so we stand with Blossom and we are making sure her hair and makeup is looking beautiful for the wedding. We have to be here because were guarding her and have to make sure she looks good for her Wedding. If we weren’t in this then the Princess would have no one to do it for her as were the people who are meant to help her. Theres nothing that we really ‘want’ in this scene as the only reason we are in it is because we are family to the Princess therefore we are expected to be there.
Who are the characters?
Aladdin:
Aladdin is Widow Twankeys younger son. He is lower class and doesn’t work. Aladdin is a cheeky kind of character, often stealing things and always getting into trouble with the policemen Chop and Suey. In the story the main thing you really see about him is that he is obsessed with the princess and getting married to her. Aladdin is about 17 years old, and still quite immature.
Blossom:
Blossom is a beautiful princess who lives in a castle with a perfect family. She is melodramatic and is waiting for someone to come and ‘take her away’ from everything. She is around 17 as well, very well spoken and always wants to be pretty and perfect. She is upper class and probably doesn’t have to work because her family has so much money. She has never been outside of the palace walls but wishes she has, this all changes when she meets Aladdin…
Wishee Washee:
Wishee is a young child, probably around 10-12, also lower class. Wishee is Aladdins younger brother, Twankey is his mum. He is always getting Aladdin out of trouble like when he steals flowers! Wishee is a very lively and bubbly character who really interacts with the audience, always making jokes and he thinks he’s really funny.
Abanazer:
Abanazer is Aladdin and Wishees uncle, he’s an old grumpy man, in about his 50s. He is evil and always wants to ruin plans. Abanazer is middle class, he probably secretly got a lot of money but he gets the slave to do the work for him. All Abanazer wants is power over everything and everyone.
Slave of the ring:
The slave of the ring is Abanazers slave, they are lower class. She’s probably in her 50s, always having a bath and in her pyjamas. The slave is a funny character who always winds Abanazer up but helps him to find the lamp.
Widow Twankey:
Widow Twankey is a very lively, flirty and over the top character. Her and her family are lower class. She is always wanting attention from boys and always flirts with everyone. During the play she makes a very strong approach and her character is one of the most clear out of all of them.
The empress:
The empress is Princess Blossoms mother, she is around 40-45 years old. She is quite strict and protective of Blossom and doesn’t want any man touching her unless it’s the prince she’s meant to marry. She is of upper class.
Chop and Suey:
Chop and Suey are a duo act, probably both in their 40s. Chop thinks he’s really clever but in reality they’re both really dumb. They are both probably middle class. They are always laughing at their own jokes and think they are amazing at singing, but their main focus is trying to catch Aladdin, however they always fail. They are so dumb that they fall for a spell that Abanazer puts on them, making them talk in monotone and together, which makes it really funny for the audience.
Genie:
The Genie is probably over 500 years old. He is very friendly with everyone and grants your wishes. The Genie pops up about half way through the story, when Aladdin is inside the cave. The genie is really nice to Aladdin and he sings the song “friend like me” which really describes his characters personality. Even though the Genie is really old, its like he never grows up because his personality stays the same his whole life, he’s up beat and wants to know all the gossip, he knows everything!
Daisy, Rose and Pansy:
Daisy, Rose and Pansy are the three handmaidens to the princess, they are upper class. As they are all quite young, they don’t have proper jobs but caring for the princess, making sure they’re there for her and always make sure her clothes, makeup and hair is perfect. Daisy is the youngest of the 3, probably around 14 and often acts quite child-like. Pansy is around 16 years old and is the flirty girl, when she sees Aladdin she always wants to flirt with him. Rose is the most mature of the 3, she is around 18 years old. She is more sensible and tries to actually make plans. Even though all these girls are different in their own ways, they’re still all girly and those girls which are always giggling and being all perfect all the time.
Summary of Aladdin:
Aladdin is a young boy who’s family lives in poverty, because of this he’s a very cheeky and a misbehaved character who steals, but only does this to help out his family and the two policemen Chop and Suey are always after him. Aladdin is in love with a princess but doesn’t know how he’d ever get married to her or even speak to her. This all starts from an Evil Wizard called Abanazer who gets his slave to force him to say who it is that can fetch the lamp for him. He convinces Aladdin that he is his long lost uncle, and talks him into getting the magic lamp from the Cave. Aladdin falls for Abanazers trick and enters the cave of wonders and then gets trapped, this is where the genie appears, Aladdin is very shocked by his approach and the genie questions him about this princess he likes, he then makes a wish to become a prince so that he can have a chance to get married to the princess, he then uses a second wish which is to get out the cave. Aladdin knows he cant marry the Princess because she’s upper class and she’s lower class but when the empress catches them together and threatens Aladdin that his head will get chopped off (which makes it obvious that its set a while back as they wouldn’t do that now), they quickly pretend they’re throwing her a party for her birthday. Aladdin has been watching Princess Blossom for weeks over the palace and eventually they fall in love and are allowed to get married. Before they get married Abanazer gets hold of the lamp and almost ruins everything but before he goes to rub the lamp Aladdin makes a wish to Abanazer into a kind person. At the end, everyone at the wedding is really happy and Princess Blossom and Aladdin live happily ever after.
Themes: Some main theme events in Aladdin are that at the start, Aladdin is a young boy who then progresses to be a happy man with a twist of Fate, he was just happy to get along with his life but then acts upon the luck he encounters and he takes charge as a man and makes sure that he achieves what he wants. By making good choices Aladdin gets to marry the Princess that he wants, this also shows the theme of Love.
History: We know this story is old because if we look back at the original title (Arabian Nights) it indicates how back in Persia they used to count days. Also, the jobs they do in the story, they don’t do now, we don’t have handmaidens who look after the Princess and no one would be able to steal flowers without getting caught, as you can see by the policemen they never catch Aladdin whereas now days they would get him within a second! Back then there would’ve been an Empress/Emperor and they would’ve been very powerful making it super unlikely for someone like Aladdin to marry a Princess showing us its a really made up story and everyone is gullible and isn’t a true historical depiction.
Context: The main context in the story is that it’s a magical element, we don’t actually have a lamp, and no one is poor and then suddenly becomes rich. It’s trying to explore the good and evil beyond the obvious. The story is trying to take us far away to a magical land which is so different to our culture that we can get transported and believe strange things might happen.
Social/Political/economic: Socially it objectifies women because we don’t hear her opinions, Aladdin just appears and they fall in love, he just thinks she’s a pretty girl and doesn’t take into consideration about how her personality could be. They decide for the Princess to be married she doesn’t have a word into it. This is showing us that women don’t have rights so it’s very sexist, where as the men are expected to work and take power. Also it is stereotypical to punish Aladdin by chopping his head off, it’s barbaric because it’s not acceptable now, you wouldn’t hear anybody say that now.
In China we can still that there’s a great economical divide but it’s definitely not what we expect from a Chinese story. We’re also discriminating because we’re saying how we’ve got better morals. We’re showing jobs that didn’t belong to china back then and making jokes, like the policemen giving a bad picture of china which isn’t realistic. They’re making china “white” by doing what english people do so taking names like Chop and Suey because it makes people laugh, not taking racism into any consideration. It’s stereotyping the East with names putting it in a negative way making it seem like they’re inferior to us.
The main reason Aladdin wants to marry the Princess is because she’s got long hair, big eyes and a perfect body with long legs, however in china they tend to be very small not with long legs and just the opposite basically making fun of them. We also imagine Aladdin to be a charming prince who is fit, stereotyping and sexualising males. This gives a bad example which is (especially to little girls) implying that you can only be happy if you marry a prince and only if your Mummy or Daddy let’s you.
How the play has been performed has had a lot of complaints for being discriminatory so the BBC has taken certain lyrics and lines out of the show because it’s a very controversial story and panto to perform because it’s so discriminatory not making it very appropriate. It doesn’t make any effort to portray culture other than English culture.
all research above was used from Italian website: animamillenaria.it
Harlequinades,Joseph Grimaldi,Dame and Dan leno research
BBC. (2019). BBC Arts – BBC Arts – Where does pantomime really come from?. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2JZ6TSqnd480n90dzN77r1Q/where-does-pantomime-really-come-from
Pantomime first started in the 16th century. The word Pantomime literally means all kinds of mime. In the 14th century the early masques were musical, mime or spoken dramas, usually performed in grand houses. Pantomime is often seen as something quaint and truly British. However it developed from the Italian street theatre of the Commedia dell’arte in the 16th Century, with comedic moments, stock characters and great physicality. These performances were improvised and took place outside marketplaces and Italian streets. They used to wear distinctive masks so that it enabled audiences to recognise characters immediately and they also allowed actors to make jokes without fear of being recognised. These actors began to take this across Europe, they travelled around and performed to they could earn their living.
Pantomime gradually worked its way into British Theatre. Thousands of people, from aristocrats to apprentices, patronised theatres in London every night. By mid-century, theatres were being built in towns and cities across Britain. Theatre was the place where everyone would come to be entertained and many of the plays that spectators enjoyed were stories about what it meant to be British. From the ancient Greeks, through to Shakespeare and into the 17th century, men or boys played all the female roles, making it even more funny and until today, drag has remained a staple of comedy from burlesque to mainstream entertainment and is a signature thing about pantomime.
Harlequinades:
Harlequinade is a British comic theatrical genre. The harlequin and the clown both played the main characters. It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries. The story of the Harlequinade lives of its five main characters: Harlequin, who loves Columbine; Columbine’s greedy father the Pantaloon, who tries to separate the lovers with the mischievous Clown, and the servant Periott, usually involving chaotic chase scenes with a policeman. Originally a mime act with music and stylised dance, the harlequinade later developed some dialogue. Early in its development, it became very popular as the comic closing part of a longer evening of entertainment.
18th Century-Joseph Grimaldi- The clown-context & background:
Victoria and Albert Museum. (2019). V&A · Victorian pantomime. [online] Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/victorian-pantomime
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Joseph Grimaldi | English clown and pantomimist. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Grimaldi [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].
When the 18th century began, theatre was largely a metropolitan and aristocratic pastime. By the time it ended, theatre had become a genuinely popular form of entertainment. But 18th-century theatres offered much more than what audiences saw on stage: sites for socialising and catching up with the latest news and gossip, they were places to see and be seen, no matter what class people were.
Joseph Grimaldi was born on December 18th 1778 in (London) and died May 31st 1837 (London). Grimaldi came from a family of dancers and entertainers and made his debut as a dancer at age four at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. For a number of years he appeared at two theatres nightly. In 1806 he joined the Covent garden Theatre. In this production he created a new type of clown combining rogue and simpleton, criminal and innocent dupe in one character.
His whiteface makeup and cheeky thievery became the normal for all pantomime clowns. Grimaldi was responsible for developing the pantomime tradition of audience singing. He was famed for his comic songs and for encouraging audience participation. His catch phrases included ‘Here we are again!’ and the teasing audience saying “Shall I?” to which they would all shout ‘Yes!’ which we always see in pantomimes now and is amusing to younger kids.
Victorian Age- The Dame- Dan Leno- context & background
Victorian age:
In the 1800s the classical stories of pantomime were often replaced by stories adapted from fairy tales, folk tales, fables, nursery rhymes and classical English literature. By this time, the importance of harlequinade grew and it often used to be the longest and the most important part of the performance.
Until 1843, theatre licensing had restricted the use of spoken word in performances. The Theatres Act lifted the restriction, allowing any theatre without a royal patent to produce a play with purely spoken dialogue. Now witty puns, word play and audience participation are added to the repertoire of mime. Favourite fairy-tale characters, magical animals, principal boys and pantomime dames all became part of the mix.
The dames:
Vam.ac.uk. (2019). Pantomime – Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/p/pantomime/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2019].
There were no pantomime dames in early pantomime but there is a long tradition of women’s roles being performed by men in English theatre. In Shakespeare’s day women were not allowed to perform on the stage therefore all the female roles were played by boys or men. Comic dames first began to appear in pantomime in the early 19th century. In 1820 the clown Joseph Grimaldi played the Baron’s wife in one of the earliest versions of Cinderella. The dame role slowly evolved over the next fifty years and really took off at the end of the 19th century.
Dames came in several types such as: working class and plain, glamorous and snobbish, or grotesque and elegant. The Dame character has remained consistent for the last hundred years or so. Dames have a bawdy sense of humour, outrageous costumes and extrovert characters. They interact with the audience, initiate slapstick and play tricks on the other performers. The costumes they wear play a large part in the jokes and are often visual puns.
Dan Leno:
Danleno.co.uk. (2019). Dan Leno | The Dan Leno Project. [online] Available at: http://www.danleno.co.uk/project/dan-leno-project/
Dan Leno was born December 20th 1860 in London, his actual name is George Wild Galvin. He was a popular English entertainer who is considered the foremost representative of the British music hall in the 19th century. In 1901 Leno gave a command performance for King Edward VII becoming the first music-hall performer to be so honoured.
He was born into a family of traveling entertainers. Leno first appeared onstage at the age of 4 as a tumbler and contortionist. Within five years he achieved prominence as a clog dancer with an act that included singing and comic patter. From 1888 until his death, Leno was the star of the Drury Lane’s annual Christmas pantomime and played to sell-out crowds in music halls. His wistful and comic caricatures endeared him to the audience. He made it to the main London stages by 1885, immediately acclaimed as a comic master, and soon established as a national favourite, particularly on account of his performances as a pantomime dame in Drury Lane pantomimes.
In 1886 he played a pantomime dame in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Surrey Theatre with alot of success. On the strength of this, he was hired in 1888 by Augustus Harris, manager at Drury Lane to appear in that theatre’s pantomime productions including Jack and the Beanstalk, Babes in the Wood and Mother Goose. For the next fifteen years, in the Drury Lane pantomimes, he played the dame to Marie Lloyd’s principal girl.
In 1902, under the stress of continuous performance, Leno suffered a mental breakdown and died on the 31 October 1904 at the age of 43, probably suffering from a brain tumour which had caused his behaviour to become increasingly erratic. His funeral was a public to people and one of the the biggest funerals for an actor or comedian.
21st century-Modern pantomime:
Modern Pantomime includes singing, dancing, and slapstick comedy. They also always include the audience, by shouting stuff like “oh yes it is!” – “oh no it isn’t!” and using mild sexual innuendo. It always has men playing as women and visa versa. It always has a well known story either being a fairy tale, fable or folk tale. It is traditionally performed at Christmas and afterwards, with family audiences. The biggest developments in Pantomime is the use of technology to create special effects and make the story more magical. Panto has also developed in how it is scripted, originally, it was improvised , however now modern pantomime is almost fully scripted. Also in modern pantomime they are not allowed to get away with some jokes anymore because of all the laws whereas back then it was funny and didn’t matter.
Comparisons:
Pantomime has developed a-lot over time and has become better. This is because back then the technology wasn’t as good whereas now its improved for example: the costumes are more extravagant and durable because they can be made in a factory and now days we have more options of materials and colours. The lighting and sound would’ve also been very different as they would of had sound tracks they would probably have someone playing music where as now we don’t always use live music and for lighting they wouldn’t have all the gadgets that we have now. From the 16th Century to now the technology has become so much better which ables us to make a much more lively and entertaining performance. They also used to sometimes wear masks to show the characters emotions but now we have makeup and makeup artists to do this for us. Another thing related to characters is that the Dame was always played by a woman but now its pretty much always played by a man because back then it wasn’t socially acceptable but now people accept it and in-fact it makes it even more funny.
Setting up rostras with Emma:
Above is the link to the videos of us building the rostra.
winter fest coursework year 1 