Christmas pantomime on the nineteenth-century stage

The Christmas pantomime, a fun and festive show for the whole family, is a mainstay of Christmas tradition for many across the United Kingdom and Ireland (Ohhhhh yes it is!) Whether they are huge professional productions or local amateur performances, modern pantomimes are usually retellings of classic fairytale stories full of slapstick comedy, bright sets and costumes. And compulsory audience participation, whether you’re singing along with the songs or booing and jeering the play’s villain.

With a history stretching back to the Italian Commedia dell’arte in the seventeenth century, material found in AM’s The Nineteenth Century Stage: Industry, Performance and Celebrity illustrates how the classic light-hearted and silly British pantomime of today, and its associations with Christmas, came to be. A tradition that somehow flourished within the morally rigid and strict society of Victorian Britain.

Where pantomime began

The above image is from the document Santa Claus: Illustrations and Reviews, found in The Nineteenth Century Stage: Industry, Performance and Celebrity resource. It contains a synopsis, photographs and illustrations of the characters, as well as reviews of a pantomime titled Santa Claus, produced by Oscar Barrett and staged at the Lyceum Theatre, London, during the Christmas season of 1894–1895. By this time pantomimes had been firmly established as part of Christmas festivities for several decades, having flourished since 1843 when restrictions imposed by the Theatres Act were lifted. Previously, this legislation had prevented theatres without a Royal patent from producing performances that relied solely on spoken dialogue alongside imposing other limitations. 

As a result, shows formerly known as ‘harlequinades’ rapidly evolved into the pantomimes familiar today. These productions had originally featured the often silent, slapstick escapades of Harlequin, a character derived from Commedia dell’arte, or a clown, performed alongside a classic story, but later developed to include witty dialogue and topical satire.

Consequently, pantomime offers a unique insight into Victorian social and cultural history. Despite rigid Victorian class hierarchies, pantomimes became a social melting pot in which audiences from all classes laughed together at sly quips about prominent figures and the society in which they lived. Nevertheless, there remained a degree of haughtiness among some members of the middle and upper classes who regarded pantomime as a lower form of performance. 

A notable example of this attitude can be found in ‘Santa Claus: Illustrations and Reviews’, where a reviewer expresses approval that Barrett “has continued his crusade against vulgarity” in producing more refined pantomimes, while also acknowledging that the wider public might not agree with this elevation of taste. Managers of some of the largest theatres, such as David Garrick, were similarly critical of pantomime, yet conceded that the genre was both highly profitable and extremely popular. Consequently, his theatre, Drury Lane, would stage pantomimes exclusively during the Christmas period, significantly reinforcing the cultural association between pantomime and Christmas. This contributed to the broader Victorian shift towards celebrating Christmas as a festive and family-centred occasion.

Playing with gender on the Victorian stage

Another defining feature of nineteenth century pantomime is the tradition of gender role reversal, most notably represented by the “Principal Boy” and the “Dame”. The former is typically the principal male character but is traditionally played by a young woman. The Dame, by contrast, is a comical and exaggerated female character performed by a man, complete with extravagant wigs, costumes and make-up.

The existence of these two roles within nineteenth-century popular culture reveals much about gender norms and broader cultural attitudes within Victorian society. Both characters embody an inversion of expected gender roles, allowing performances to parody and expose societal assumptions within an otherwise rigidly modest culture. 

The “Principal Boy” actress, for example, adopts the mannerisms of a young boy or man and is permitted to transgress conventional expectations of female behaviour and dress by wearing noticeably short breeches and tights. The image above illustrates this, with Miss Kitty Loftus playing the role of Eric in Santa Claus. Such costumes contrasted sharply with the strict standards of modesty typically imposed upon women, who were expected to wear long skirts that concealed even their ankles. This element of visual transgression proved highly appealing and helped attract audiences to pantomime performances.

The “Dame” character likewise represents an accepted subversion of Victorian gender norms, presenting an overtly female role that is deliberately and visibly performed by a man. The actor is expected to be melodramatic, exaggerated and overtly comedic, typically portraying either a maternal figure fallen on hard times or a flamboyant villain. Interaction with the audience through jokes and commentary is a defining feature of the role. One reason for the acceptability lies in theatrical tradition. At earlier points in history, when women were prohibited from appearing on stage, men routinely performed female roles. However, the pantomime Dame caricature flourished long after women had begun performing on stage, even within the restrictive moral climate of the Victorian era.

The roots of a Christmas classic

In essence, pantomime created a form of playful complicity between performers and audience, with both parties fully aware of the deliberate gender inversion at play. This shared understanding allowed audiences to laugh at and acknowledge gender stereotypes without being perceived as a challenge to established social norms. As a result, these conventions thrived throughout the nineteenth century and continue to remain central features of pantomime today.

For more information on The Nineteenth Century Stage: Industry, Performance and Celebrity, including pricing, please request a demo. The documents quoted in this blog are available open access for 30 days.