Early pantomime
Pantomime developed from a type of travelling street theatre called Commedia dell'arte which came from Italy in the…
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Victorian pantomime
History of pantomime in 19th-century London from its origins in Harlequinades to the familiar and popular pantomime…
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The origin of popular pantomime stories
The origins and development of well-known pantomime stories including Cinderella, Babes in the Wood, Jack and the B…
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Principal boys, dames and animal impersonators in pantomime
The development of the tradition in pantomime of women dressing up as men and men dressing as women and animal char…
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Biography of Dan Leno
Dan Leno, the late-19th-century Music Hall star, was famous for playing pantomime dames.
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Widow Twankey costume by John Vicars for 'Aladdin', 1980
Pantomime gives the costume designer plenty of opportunity to devise absurd outfits for the comic characters. No pa…
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Manuscript for 'The School For Scandal' by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
View high-resolution, zoomable facsimile of a manuscript for 'The School For Scandal' by Richard Brinsley Sheridan showing numerous crossings-out and changes that Sheridan made in his own hand while revising the play.
The 20th-century ballet revolution
20th century ballet was born in St Petersburg, from a group of artists who were disenchanted with the arts scene in Russia. They included the painters Leon Bakst and Alexandre Benois, Serge Diaghilev, who had won fame for organising exhibitions of Russian paintings in Paris, and the choreographer Michael Fokine, who had become disaffected with the conservative, traditional ballets of Petipa.
Biography of Sir Laurence Olivier
The life of Sir Laurence Olivier, 1907 - 1989, one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century who played a variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama.
19th-century theatre
The 19th century was the age of a truly popular theatre. New theatres opened to satisfy a demand for entertainment from the workers who flooded into the major cities as the Industrial Revolution took hold. Pantomime, ballad opera, melodrama, circus, equestrian drama, aquatic drama and burlesque were all popular forms of entertainment.
Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. Along with his contemporaries Gielgud, Ashcroft and Richardson, he played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama.
Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950
From 19 May 2012 the V&A celebrates the opening of the newly renovated Fashion Galleries with an exhibition of beautiful ballgowns, red carpet evening dresses and catwalk showstoppers.
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