Top Results for British Panto

The Magic Lamp is a popular British pantomime adaptation of the Aladdin folktale from the Arabic compilation One Thousand and One Nights.

Mother Goose is a traditional British pantomime performance deeply rooted in classic nursery rhymes. It showcases the Dame character—a beloved comedic role—and draws heavily from the established collection of verse compiled by Mother Goose beginning in the 18th century. This theatrical tradition pri...

Dick Whittington is a traditional British pantomime based loosely on stories about Richard Whittington, a medieval merchant who served several terms as mayor of London. The stage version follows a poor young man who travels to London with his cat, gains a fortune, and rises to civic prominence. Inte...

'Jack and the Beanstalk' is a traditional British pantomime based on the classic English fairy tale of a young boy who trades his family's cow for magic beans. After climbing a large beanstalk into the clouds, he outwits a giant to secure his fortune. The story was first published in print in 1807 b...

"Whittington and His Cat" is a traditional British pantomime based on the English folk tale of Richard Whittington, a historical merchant and Lord Mayor of London. The story follows a poor orphan boy and his feline companion who travel to foreign lands, where the cat's rat-catching abilities bring t...

"The Sleeping Princess" is a British pantomime adaptation of the classic "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale, famously published by Charles Perrault in 1697. Traditional British pantomimes combine theatrical comedy, music, and audience participation, typically staged during the holiday season. The narrativ...

Harlequin and Cinderella is an early 19th-century British pantomime that integrates the traditional Cinderella fairy tale with the conventions of the harlequinade. In this theatrical format, the magical elements of the story serve as a transition into a comedic chase sequence featuring commedia dell...

The Emperor's New Clothes is a stage pantomime derived from Hans Christian Andersen's literary fairy tale, first published in 1837. The story follows a vain emperor deceived by swindlers who claim to weave clothing invisible to people who are incompetent or unfit for office, until a child openly sta...

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a traditional British pantomime derived from the story associated with One Thousand and One Nights. Its plot centers on Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter who discovers a band of thieves entering a treasure cave with the command "Open Sesame." Stage versions adapt the tale...

"Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a traditional British pantomime adapted from the classic 19th-century fairy tale originally recorded by Robert Southey in 1837. The story follows a young girl who enters the forest cottage of three anthropomorphic bears, sampling their porridge, sitting in their c...

The Babes in the Wood and Robin Hood is a British pantomime subject that combines the traditional story of two endangered children with legends about Robin Hood and his companions. In this version, the outlaw hero and the figures associated with Sherwood Forest become involved in rescuing the childr...

Babes in the Wood is a traditional British pantomime subject derived from an English ballad about two orphaned children entrusted to a wicked uncle and abandoned in a forest. Stage versions commonly combine this story with characters or episodes associated with Robin Hood. Like other pantomimes, pro...

Little Red Riding Hood is a traditional British pantomime subject based on the European fairy tale associated with Charles Perrault's 1697 publication. The story follows a girl in a red hood who travels through a forest, encounters a deceptive wolf, and faces danger before the tale's resolution. In...

Humpty Dumpty is a British pantomime subject based on the nursery-rhyme character of the same name. Its central figure is conventionally represented as an oversized egg who falls from a wall and cannot be restored, reflecting the rhyme's ending. The character became established in Victorian-era popu...

Old Mother Hubbard is the name of a traditional English nursery rhyme and of pantomime productions based on it. The rhyme was published in 1805 and is associated with Sarah Catherine Martin; its opening situation concerns an old woman who goes to a cupboard and finds that her dog has no food. Pantom...

Sinbad the Sailor is a traditional British pantomime based on the legendary voyager from the One Thousand and One Nights story cycle. The plot typically draws on Sinbad's seven sea voyages, including encounters with strange islands, monsters, storms, and other dangers. As a pantomime, it combines ad...

A British pantomime based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of 1812, about a girl imprisoned in a tower by a sorceress and eventually rescued by a prince via her long hair.

The Gingerbread Man is a traditional children's folktale about a gingerbread figure that comes to life and runs away from the people who made or encounter it. The story is known for its repeated chase structure and the character's refusal to be caught, often ending when a fox outwits him. Stage pant...

Rumpelstiltskin is a traditional fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in their 1812 collection. Its central figure is a supernatural dwarf who offers to spin straw into gold for a miller's daughter, demanding her firstborn child in return. British pantomime adaptations use this s...

A British pantomime focusing on the villainous gang from the Ali Baba story of One Thousand and One Nights; often staged as a companion or sequel to the Ali Baba pantomime.

The Dragon of Wantley is an English stage work based on a Yorkshire legend about a dragon that terrorizes the village of Wantley. The story was also adapted into a burlesque opera by John Frederick Lampe, first performed in 1737. Lampe's work parodied the conventions of Italian opera and drew on the...

A British pantomime based on the nursery rhyme about a foolish character who meets a pieman at a fair; one of several nursery rhyme figures adapted for the Victorian stage.

Goody Two Shoes is a traditional story and pantomime subject connected with The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, a children’s book published in 1765 by John Newbery’s London press. The story follows an orphan girl known as Margery Meanwell, who initially owns only one shoe and later receives a com...

Old King Cole is a traditional British pantomime subject based on the nursery rhyme about a cheerful king who calls for his pipe, bowl, and three fiddlers. Pantomime versions use the brief rhyme as a starting point for a larger comic stage story, often adding stock characters, music, audience partic...

A British pantomime based on the nursery rhyme about a shepherdess who loses her sheep; often combined with pastoral subjects in Victorian-era double-bill productions.

Hop o' My Thumb is a British pantomime adaptation of Charles Perrault's fairy tale Le Petit Poucet, known in English as Hop-o'-My-Thumb. The central character is the smallest son in a poor family, who uses intelligence and trickery to protect or rescue his brothers after they encounter a man-eating...

Georgie Porgie is an English-language nursery rhyme recorded in nineteenth-century collections and known by the Roud Folk Song Index number 19532. Its familiar verse describes Georgie Porgie kissing girls, making them cry, and running away when children come out to play. Some reference works have li...

The White Cat is a British pantomime title drawn from Madame d'Aulnoy's French fairy tale La Chatte blanche, published in 1698. Its recurring story places a prince in a succession or marriage quest involving a white cat linked to enchantment and a hidden human identity. Stage versions use British pa...

The Yellow Dwarf is a British pantomime based on Madame d'Aulnoy's French fairy tale of the same name, first published in 1698. Its plot turns on a princess, a broken promise by her mother, and the curse imposed by the hostile yellow dwarf, so family obligation and enchantment drive the story. The t...