Jamaican Pantomime in England

Christmas pantomime has been a feature of Jamaica’s Little Theatre Movement (LTM) since 1941. Initial presentations were of traditional British pantomimes like Jack and the Beanstalk, involving principal boys and dames foiling evil plots and reaping riches. . However, the 1950s saw , LTM ‘Jamaicanizing’ pantomime: moving away from British fairytales, focusing instead on familiar figures from Jamaican folk culture like Anans/Anancy the trickster and incorporating patois and folk music. Jamaican pantomime also addresses topical issues in local, national and global politics. Verena Reckford describes Jamaican pantomime as ‘theatre for Jamaicans, by Jamaicans, out of the Jamaican way of life’ [Reckford 1974].

In 1972 Yvonne Brewster directed the first Jamaican pantomime for the Dark and the Light Theatre in Camberwell, South London. Anansi and Bre'r Englishman was written by Gloria Cameron and Manley Young and addressed contemporary politics (a feature of Jamaican pantomine), with Anansi living in Brixton and fighting against the racism of his local councillor. Brewster described the production as a first opportunity for post-Windrush generations who had never visited Jamaica to experience the Jamaican pantomime tradition. The show sold out its entire run.

In 1986 Temba Theatre staged The Pirate Princess, a Jamaican pantomime written by Barbara Gloudon at the Arts Theatre in London.

In 1986 Half Moon Theatre in East London employed Brewster to direct another of Gloudon’s Jamaican pantomime, Flash Trash, which we covered on Day 29. You can read more about Jamaica panto here

Resources

Verena Reckford 1974 ‘The Evolution of Pantomime in Jamaica’, The Jamaica Daily News, 14 November

Jamaican Little Theatre Movement website documenting every pantomime since 1941

Dark and the Light Theatre on Anancy and Bre'r Englishman

Future Histories page on Anancy and Bre'r Englishman