Take Away English-Pantomimes 圣诞节上演的话剧

festive1 season" src="/upimg/allimg/071026/1532511.jpg" width="203" /> A special performance for the festive season

In winter in Britain, many children and adults enjoy going to the theatre to watch a pantomime. Pantomimes are a very old form of entertainment, but the modern version is as popular as ever.

Pantomimes today originate from a type of light, popular, comedy play from 16th Century Italy. Some aspects of modern pantomime date from this time, for example having stock characters who appear in different stories.

Pantomimes started to be performed in England in the 17th Century, and it was here that the comedy developed into slapstick - a clownish, physical comedy characterised by people falling over or fighting in a silly way.

In the 19th Century, Grimaldi, a famous clown, introduced the tradition of audience participation², a very important aspect of modern pantomime. He established catch phrases, which the audience would respond to by shouting a known response.

There are two very well-known catch phrases in modern British pantomime. The first is that a character will pretend not to see his enemy and ask the audience where he is. The audience shout out ‘Look behind you!’ The second is where a character pretends to have an argument with the audience using phrases like ‘Oh yes I did’ and ‘Oh no you didn’t!’

Pantomimes are based on folk stories or fairy tales like Cinderella, Jack³ and the Beanstalk or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves⁴. The performances often include songs or music.

There are two stock characters who feature in almost every pantomime. The first is the pantomime dame⁵, an older woman such as an aunt, usually played by a man. She usually has an outrageous⁶ costume and a bawdy⁷ sense of humour.

In addition, there is often a male character played by a young woman, called the principal boy. This is usually the hero of the story. The fact that actors are playing roles of the wrong gender⁸ is part of the joke.

Often, celebrities⁹ from the world of TV or pop music take leading roles in pantomimes, or ‘pantos’. You will find a pantomime in almost every theatre in Britain in wintertime…‘Oh yes you will!’

GLOSSARY 词汇表
pantomime (圣诞节上演的)话剧 originate from 起源于… date from 起始于… stock character 固定角色 slapstick 闹剧, 滑稽戏 clownish 滑稽的 physical comedy 喜剧 (主要用肢体语言表达) clown 小丑 audience participation 观众的参与 catch phrases 口头禅, 套话	character 角色 based on 以…为基础, 基于 folk stories 民间故事 fairy tales 神话故事 pantomime dame 话剧的女主角之一, 通常是指年岁较大的那位 played by 由…来演 bawdy 淫猥的, 下流的 principal boy 话剧的男主角 actors 演员 celebrities 社会名流

 

1 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

2 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 dwarves   

n.矮子( dwarf的名词复数 )；有魔法的小矮人

参考例句：

• Everyone will try to claim it: Men, Dwarves, wizards. 每个种族都会争取它的拥有权：人类，矮人，巫师。 来自电影对白
• Have you learned nothing of the stubbornness of Dwarves? 难道你还不了解那个矮人的倔强吗？ 来自电影对白

5 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

6 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

7 bawdy   

adj.淫猥的，下流的；n.粗话

参考例句：

• After a few drinks,they were all singing bawdy songs at the top of their voices.喝了几杯酒之后，他们就扯着嗓门唱一些下流歌曲。
• His eyes were shrewd and bawdy.他的一双眼睛机灵而轻佻。

8 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

9 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目