Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 15th December 2025

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: Exmouth Arms, 167 Bath Road, Cheltenham GL53 7LX

Description: Professor Kate Newey; University of Exeter We like to think that pantomime is the most English of entertainments. It’s everybody’s Christmas entertainment, fun for all the family, and unchanging. However - like many things English – it is actually a mongrel form, bred of Italian commedia dell’arte and street acrobats, out of harsh eighteenth century satire, Dickensian jollification, and twentieth century sensationalism. The pantomime at Christmas is for all the family, but different members of the family will enjoy different things in it. We’ll all laugh at the antics on stage however, and feel reassured that in the darkest and busiest days of the year, we can settle into three hours of a warmth, light, and silliness. Kate Newey will give an illustrated talk about the history of pantomime, with a focus on the heyday of Victorian pantomime, and Pantomime fairies and Dames.

Price: Members and students free, £4 for guests

Tel: 01242 574889

Email: histassocglos@gmail.com

Website: https://www.haslos.co.uk

Organiser: Andrea Robertson

Lecturer: Professor Kate Newey

Region: West Midlands

Branch: Gloucestershire