![]() ![]() ![]() The Anancy titles came with a name that would come to be perennially associated with the National Pantomime, Louise Bennett, who co-wrote Bluebeard and Brer Anancy with Noel Vaz, who also directed the production. The decade was rounded out by Busha Bluebeard (1957), Quashie Lady (1958), Jamaica Way (1959), and Carib Gold (1960). Still, the writing was literally on the wall as after Dick Whittington (1951), Aladdin (1952), and Robinson Crusoe (1953), there were three Anancy titles in a row - Anancy and the Magic Mirror (1954), Anancy and Pandora (1955), and Anancy and Beeny Bud (1956). Tradition can be hard to break, though, as the 1950 title was Alice in Wonderland. After the consecutive fairytale titles Cinderella (1947), Beauty and the Beast (1948), the 1949 production Bluebeard and Brer Anancy indicated a definite influx of Jamaican identity on the National Pantomime. Jack and the Beanstalk was followed by Babes in the Wood. ![]() Since Jack and the Beanstalk, the titles of the annual Boxing Day opening of an acting and music spectacle have been as engaging as the productions themselves. Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters. European folklore has given way to lusty tales of the Caribbean, with dialogue in patois and humour reflecting the robust sense of comedy of these 'islands in the sun'." That is perhaps the only thing from the British tradition that has remained unchanged. Times have changed, but in Jamaica, Boxing Day remains constant as the opening day for Pantomime. ever since then, opening day has remained fixed, while all else has been transformed.Īs is stated on the LTM's website: "The Pantomime opened on Boxing Day - December 26 - as was the custom in England. Henry Fowler and Greta Bourke (later Fowler) founded the LTM and staged the first National Pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, in 1941. The Little Theatre Movement (LTM) launched its 2015-2016 National Pantomime, Runeesha and the Birds, and it was also a celebration of 75 years of the National Pantomime Christmas tradition. It may well have been dubbed the celebration of the successful transformation of a colonial tradition to a Jamaican and regional theatrical institution. In the middle of December 2015 a cake was cut at the Little Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive, St Andrew, to mark a diamond jubilee. ![]()
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