From community halls to the fanciest of theatres, our favourite pantomime characters will be waiting in the wings once again this year. But pantomime is not the most modern of affairs, it has ...

Michael Grade explores the history of the traditional theatrical character in Britain. Pantomime is often seen ... the acrobatic Harlequin - the English name for the Commedia dell’arte’s ...

There is also always a “pantomime dame”, usually the mother of one of the characters, who is almost always played by a male. But unlike the young actors of Shakespeare’s time, who were ...