ACT in Action Issue 17

The art of creating an image with the help of body movement, mimicry and wordless gesture, pantomime is claimed by ballet, dance, drama and the circus, but also successfully exists as an independent art in the form of short miniatures. In the early twentieth century pantomime was an important and innovative way to develop and renew the language of scenic expression in the works of many famous Russian directors. During the Stalin era, pantomime virtually banished as an artistic form: pantomime allowed for multiple interpretations, its metaphoric language difficult to control and censor, and Stalin's aesthetics pronounced it on the border formalist creation, while Soviet art promulgated the priority of verbal expression. Even in circus productions, clowns were required to speak. Pantomime continued to exist in classic ballet productions and the individual performance of some stage actors, mostly in comedies. The successful tours of French mimes in the USSR during the Thaw triggered the rebirth of pantomime. Marcel Marceau's performances in 1961 caused an explosion of interest in pantomime as an autonomous art with its own, self-sufficient language. Pantomime's unlimited expressive potential made it possible, without words, to achieve a depth of philosophical generalisation, suggest a wide range of associations, express subtle nuances of emotion and even stress the absurdity of contemporary life. Pantomime in Russia

reputation and entered a boom period. 1980-81 John Morley's Aladdin , staged at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, set a new record for a pantomime run. 1983 The National Theatre added pantomime to its programme with Cinderella , although the production was not a success. 1984 Rising costs resulted in just one professional pantomime to be staged in London's West End, but another 30 could be seen in Greater London, with 70 in the provinces and another 22 in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (together with numerous amateur shows). Casts everywhere grew smaller to save money, and the element of spectacle similarly declined. 1992 John Morley's Dick Whittington was chosen for study as part of the National Curriculum. 1992-93 There was no West End pantomime for the first time in living memory due to high costs, but productions elsewhere in the country continued to prosper and included celebrity guests ranging from sportsmen to stars of Australian soap operas. The most frequently seen pantomimes presented in some 200 professional productions were: Cinderella (30 productions), Aladdin (30), Jack and the Beanstalk (20), Dick Whittington (20), Snow White (12), and Babes in the Wood (11). 2016 The London Palladium staged its first pantomime, Cinderella , for nearly four decades. Amateur companies continue to present countless pantomimes, often to a high standard, throughout the world. The most popular pantomimes are: 1. Cinderella 2. Dick Whittington 3. Jack and the Beanstalk 4. Aladdin 5. Beauty and the Beast 6. Snow White 7. Peter Pan * The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform “spoken drama” after the Restoration of Charles II as King of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such “serious” drama, but were permitted to show comedy, pantomime or melodrama. Drama was also interspersed with singing or dancing, to prevent the whole being too serious or dramatic. Public entertainments, such as theatrical performances, were banned under the Puritan rule in the English Commonwealth. After he was restored to the throne, Charles II issued letters patent to Thomas Killigrew and William Davenant, granting them the monopoly right to form two London theatre companies to perform “serious” drama. The letters patent were reissued in 1662 with revisions allowing actresses to perform for the first time. Killigrew established his company, the King’s Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1663; Davenant established his company, the Duke’s Company, in Lisle’s Tennis Court in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1661, later moving to Dorset Garden in 1671. In Dublin, theTheatre Royal opened on Smock Alley in 1662; this building survives and was reopened as a theatre in 2012. After problems under the direction of Charles Killigrew, Thomas’ son, the King’s Company was taken over by its rival, the Duke’s Company in 1682. The two companies merged and the combined “United Company” continued under Thomas Betterton at Drury Lane. After some disagreements, Betterton obtained a licence from William III to form a new company at the old theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in 1695, which moved to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1720 (now the Royal Opera House). The two patent theatres closed in the summer months. To fill the gap, Samuel Foote’s Theatre Royal, Haymarket became a third patent theatre in London in 1766. Further letters patent were granted to theatres in other English and Irish towns and cities, including the Theatre Royal, Cork in 1760, the Theatre Royal, Bath in 1768, the Theatre Royal, Liverpool in 1772, the Theatre Royal, Bristol in 1778 and the Theatre Royal, Birmingham in 1807. These monopolies on the performance of “serious” plays were eventually revoked by the Theatres Act 1843, but censorship of the content of plays by the Lord Chamberlain under Robert Walpole’s Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737 continued until 1968.

Clown Anna Orlova with clowns Anwar Libabov and Robert Gorodetsky perform a pantomime pop number. Gorodetsky has created a unique recognizable image skinny intellectual in a frock coat and black top hat. © Viacheslav Dyachkov | Dreamstime

Pantomime therefore became a dissident art form attracting many young people. In the 1960s hundreds of studios arose producing pantomimes as well as hundreds of amateur groups. As it developed it became an essential part of circus performances. By the 1980s pantomime was an intrinsic part of avant-garde drama theatre productions. Throughout the 1990s most theatre companies wither became integrated into dramatic theatre or merged with contemporary dance companies, individual mime numbers continue to occupy an important place in Russian showbusiness and the circus.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Encyclopaedia of Pantomime Ed David Pickering Wikipedia History of Pantomime by Ellen Castelow BBC Introducing Arts Victoria and Albert Museum Archives Encyclopedia of Contemporary Russian Culture Edited by Tatiana Smorodinskaya

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