SPOILER alert: nobody is behind you. Yep, we’re stepping out of our comfort zone again this week. I’d thought panto was primarily aimed at kids but some of it is right adult and has men dressed as women. Pantomime dames – even I, several steps happily removed from the real world, should have remembered that.

The area between double entendres and children’s entertainment is right grey but, according to my researchers, panto is good, harmless fun. Anything less pretentious on la scène you’d struggle to find.

It’s particularly popular in Scotland. Voice urgently whispering offstage: “For pity’s sake, don’t start generalising again!” Too late. We Scots are a coarse and simple folk who like good, plain entertainment, as indeed do the English, Welsh, Irish and all other peoples of the world.

That said, panto predominates in English-speaking parts. Even London has its annual Portobello Panto in trendy Notting Hill. However, this year’s production of The Lion, The Witch And The West¬way was put in jeop¬ardy after van¬dals des¬troyed the sets which were stored in an indoor chil¬dren’s play¬ground. It’s the Christmas spirit in 2025!

Pantomime is generally performed during the festive season, so it’s surprising to learnt that its origins supposedly lie in ancient Greek classical theatre, since the Greeks were too evil to celebrate Christmas.

Indeed, the word itself comes from pantomimos, panto meaning all and mimos a dancer acting a story. The Greeks were louche so, inevitably, their productions were lewd and libidinous.

The rotten Romans also had their mythology-based version, with a solo male dancer clad in a short, er, pallium, and “music” consisting of flute and the banging of an iron shoe. Sounds like early King Crimson.

The genre was developed later........

© Herald Scotland