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neurologyYou need to know

• Pantomime is a family-friendly theatrical genre, usually based on fairy tales, and traditionally performed at Christmas.
• Pantomime includes stock characters such as the Hero, Villain, Fairy Godmother, Wicked Witch, Dame, and Principal Boy.
• Pantomime relies heavily on audience participation, including call-and-response stock phrases like "Oh yes it is!" and "Oh no it isn't!".
• Exaggerated acting is essential to entertain a wide audience, including young children.
• The term 'pantomime' comes from ancient performance traditions meaning 'imitating all', but British pantomime developed from traditions including commedia dell'arte, harlequinade, melodrama, and music hall.
• Multi-role playing involves an actor playing more than one character in a single scene or performance.
• A breeches role is a male character traditionally played by a woman, most notably the Principal Boy; by contrast, the pantomime Dame and Ugly Sisters are female characters traditionally played by men.
• The tradition of breeches roles originated in the late 1600s when women were first allowed to perform on stage in England; these roles often involved women dressing as men, typically in breeches.
• Physical theatre uses the body and movement as primary means of communicating characters, emotions, relationships, settings, objects, or events, sometimes alongside dialogue and sound.
• Physical theatre is used in pantomime to tell parts of the story using movement, gesture, and body image instead of dialogue.
• Pantomime performances must be high-energy, exaggerated, and engaging, aiming to connect with an audience ranging from young children to grandparents.
• The purpose of pantomime conventions, such as physical comedy, audience interaction, and exaggerated characters, is to entertain a broad, multi-generational audience.
• Central pantomime conventions include adapting a familiar story for comedy, conflict between good and evil, slapstick, songs and dance, topical or local humour, direct address, and a happy resolution.

• Create and perform a scene using multi-role playing, showing clear differences between each character.
• Use characterisation techniques, including voice, movement, stance, and facial expression, to portray contrasting characters.
• Identify and portray stock pantomime characters with clear exaggeration.
• Create a performance using physical theatre, including movement and sound, to represent places, objects, or transformations.
• Perform a breeches role confidently, using exaggerated characterisation to communicate a male character traditionally played by a woman.
• Engage an audience using interaction techniques such as placards, direct address, and voice cues through stock phrases.
• Rehearse and perform scenes with clear structure, incorporating pantomime ingredients: exaggeration, physicality, stock characters, and audience interaction.
• Collaborate in groups to build and rehearse scenes, showing cooperation and creativity.
• Evaluate their own and others' performances, identifying strengths and areas for development using subject-specific vocabulary.
• Reflect on how acting choices, such as voice, movement, and physicality, affected the impact of the performance on the audience.