A mix of merriment, music and mayhem makes panto a beloved British holiday tradition

LONDON (AP) — Here’s a recipe as essential to Christmas in Britain as turkey, tinsel and mince pies.

Mix a fairy-tale plot with topical references, slapstick, song, dance and double entendres. Drench in sequins and spangles, mix vigorously, add some noisy audience participation, and you have a panto.

Pantos — short for pantomimes — are stage musicals that play at theaters big and small across the U.K. each winter. Formulaic but anarchic, family friendly but a little risque, they are a holiday tradition that give many children their first exposure to live theater — and adults a chance to cut loose.

Anyone who thinks Britons are buttoned up hasn't been to a panto. Audiences happily shed their inhibitions – cheering, singing, hissing the villain, shouting “He’s behind you!” to warn the hero.

“It’s singing, dancing, laughing — taking the family out and being able to be out with their kids and letting the kids run riot,” said Clive Rowe, who directed and stars in “Dick Whittington and his Cat” at the Hackney Empire — his 17th annual panto for the storied east London theater.

Pantomime has deep roots, stretching back to the stock characters and bawdy humor of the 16th-century Italian commedia dell’arte and the French harlequinade, as well as the English music hall. By the late 19th century, the elements had gelled into a form still recognizable today.

The plots are drawn from well-known fairy tales and children’s stories such as “Aladdin,” “Snow White” and “Cinderella.” Characters include a plucky hero, or “principal boy,” often played by a woman, an outrageous villain, and a “dame,” a sharp-tongued matron who is always played by a man in fabulously flamboyant drag.

“The pantomime dame is the beating heart of the show,” said Simon Sladen, curator of theater and performance at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. “She is that engine that drives it. Firstly with pace and anarchy, but also a little bit of sauce on the side.”

An estimated 3 million people in Britain attend a pantomime each year, in venues ranging from small regional theaters to London West End playhouses. Many theaters rely on them for a big chunk of their annual income.

When London’s theaters were closed for months by pandemic lockdowns in 2020, panto dames led a protest march through the city to stress their importance to the creative economy.

They provide seasonal work to faded pop stars, television entertainers, the occasional Hollywood celebrity — Pamela Anderson took Liverpool by storm when she starred in “Aladdin” in 2010, singing “Santa Baby” while suspended on a swing above the stage, dressed in costumes by Vivienne Westwood.

They are also vital experience for many young actors, including the A-listers of tomorrow.

Jude Law told The Associated Press recently that he’d played Humpty Dumpty, recalling his performance as “loud and round.” At 17, Michael Fassbender played one of Cinderella’s Ugly Sisters, and a tree.

“Wicked” star Jonathan Bailey starred alongside a young Nicholas Hoult in a production of “Peter Pan.” Hoult also appeared in “Mother Goose” as a child, and says he would happily do another, as they’re “really fun.”

Asked to sum up the art form, Bailey called it a “quintessentially British bloody good time for all the family.”

Today’s pantos often strive to reflect diversity, both onstage and in the audience. Rowe, whose Hackney Empire pantos draw many of their cast and crew from Britain’s Black communities, said that at its core the genre is “about acceptance.”

“It’s about understanding, it’s about the idea that being different isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” he said. “It should be brought in and kind of celebrated and that no matter where you are in society, from the youngest to the oldest, we all have a place and we should embrace that.”

Drag performer Ginger Johnson, starring in an adult “all-drag panto” version of “Peter Pan” at London’s Phoenix Theatre, said that panto’s ability to change is “why it’s managed to survive for so long as a cultural form.”

“I think for a lot of kids, panto is the first time that they come in contact with drag as well,” Johnson said.

Stage historian Sladen said that some are leaning into the drag element of panto, with “a bigger, wider explosion of roles than just the dame and the principal boy being cross-dressed.”

“We might see the fairy godmother played by a dame or played by a drag artist. We might see a wicked stepmother, also played by a very well-known drag performer. So (it’s) constantly evolving, constantly changing with the times.”

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Kandaka Moore as Dick Whittington poses during a photocall for Hackney Empire's 25th pantomime in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Beth Sindy as Fairy Bowbells and Kat B as Thomas the Cat, appear on stage during a photocall for Hackney Empire's Dick Whittington and His Cat in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Graham MacDuff as King Rat strikes a pose on stage during a photocall for Hackney Empire's Dick Whittington and His Cat in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Kat B as Thomas the Cat and Kandaka Moore as Dick Whittington perform during a photocall for Hackney Empire's 25th pantomime in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Kat B as Thomas the Cat performs during a photocall for Hackney Empire's 25th pantomime in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Clive Rowe as Dame Sarah the Cook poses on stage during a photocall for Hackney Empire's 25th pantomime, Dick Whittington and His Cat, in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Olivier Award-winner Clive Rowe (right) performs as Dame Sarah the Cook during a photocall for Hackney Empire's Dick Whittington and His Cat in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

Olivier Award-winner Clive Rowe (right) performs as Dame Sarah the Cook during a photocall for Hackney Empire's Dick Whittington and His Cat in London, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)