Panto's Fairytale Origins

Its amazing how far you can travel whilst being sat in one stationary seat. But that is exactly what happens when we go to the theatre to see a pantomime or any other type of show. We are transported into a world that is different from our own. In a pantomime, we are transported into the land of fairytales. It’s a land that is ideal, perfect, full of adventure, of great characters, of memories that are ready to be made, and where good always defeats evil. That land manifests itself in the form of many different fairytales such as Peter Pan, Cinderella and Robin Hood. But the stories that we know, are often adaptations that have taken on many different forms since the original was published.

Original fairytales are often far from the happy, cheery versions we see today. They were written as stories, in which everyday life lessons were portrayed, they showed how to obey rules, and that to step from the rules or the perceived way of living, could result in some harsh consequences.

A lot of the fairytales that we know of come from around the 1800’s. But some of them can be thousands of years old. To quote Jamie Tehrani, an anthropologist at Durham University. He said “Jack and the Beanstalk was rooted in a group of stories classified as The Boy Who Stole The Ogre’s Treasure and could be traced back to when Eastern and Western Indo-European languages split more than 5,000 years ago”.

The first fairytale ever to be written is believed to around 6,000 years old, which places it around the bronze age. It was called The Smith and The Devil. Now, judging by the title, I don’t think we are going to see this story being performed on a village hall stage anytime soon. The story goes a little something like this. A smith decides to make a pact with the devil, selling his soul in order to gain supernatural abilities, only then to trick the devil out of his gain from the deal, and then using his newly gained powers to stick the devil to an object.

It’s not unusual for origins of these fairytales to be quite dark. Aladdin, for example, is actually a short story from a collection called One Thousand And One Nights. The central story to this collection goes like this. King Shahryar rules over India and China. Upon discovering that his wife has been unfaithful, he has her executed and declares that all women are the same. He then orders the Royal Vizier to find him a new virgin, every day. The King marries them, sleeps with them that night, and executes them the next day before they get a chance to be unfaithful to him. When the Royal Vizier can not find any more virgins, his own daughter, Scheherazade, offers herself to the king. On their wedding night, she tells the king a story, but she does not end it. The king wants to hear how the story ends and so postpones her execution. The next night, Scheherazade finishes the story, starts another one but once again, does not end it. Once again, the king wants to know the ending and postpones her execution again. Scheherazade keeps this going for one thousand and one nights, upon which, the king gives his wife a pardon and spares her life.

Fairy tales like Hansel & Gretel and Snow White come from German folklore and can be even darker. In the original version of Snow White, written by the Brothers Grim, the evil stepmother does not get the Disney ending she is gifted in the movie. Oh no. She invites herself to the wedding of Snow White and the prince. After trying to kill Snow White once again, the prince orders her to wear a pair of red-hot iron slippers and dance in them until she falls down dead. In Hansel and Gretel, Gretel pushes the witch who lives in a house made from bread into her own oven in which she burns to death.

I think you’ll agree that looking back over some of these original stories, they wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Game of Thrones. Whilst I think it’s important to remember and honour where these stories came from and who originally wrote it, it is important that they change and evolve over time in reflection to the audiences that are exposed to them. This ability to adapt over time into lighter, more family friendly and even comedic versions has given them the longevity that they currently have and modern day audiences can enjoy their new found charm and magic.

So, what does the future hold for fairytales? Well, who can tell. But one thing that I think is guaranteed, is that these stories have been around for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years and I think they will be around for hundreds and even thousands of years longer. They will continue to change and evolve to the expectations of audiences so that future generations will be able enjoy these magical stories.