Ever wondered about the life behind the curtain? Oh yes you have!
Pantomimes are a quintessential Christmas tradition in the UK. You may see your local theatres have carved out this part of the year only to show pantomimes.
BBC Bitesize went behind the scenes and followed comedian Jarred Christmas for the day, as he played the starring role in Dick Whittington at De Montford Hall in Leicester. The video is behind you…Oh no it isn't, just click below!
Hey, BBC Bitesize Jarred Christmas here we are at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. We're about to start the warm up for Dick Whittington. Yoooo!
There's the cast right there. There's me. Woo! I've got a finger for a face.
See what happens. The chaos backstage.
Oh, God. I've got to warm up now.
Your, vocal cords, vitally important. You know, it's not just about the physical. You're going to do the vocals as well. No one gets to see this. This is proper exclusive footage.
vocal warm up
The dame, our dame, Jack Ballard, is, currently putting his makeup on, so it's really important to knock on the door. Hello, hi Jay BBC Bitesize. Nice to meet you guys. This is our dame, Jack Ballard. And you're currently putting on what I'm starting to put on my base layer of foundation to start the day, and it's just going to get more and more chaotic as we go.
Yeah. So everything you see on stage, props wise, comes from this table. I think my favourite prop, which is what we both use in 12 Days of Christmas, is the, Hello, Jim just running, he's not a prop.
So there's three of us on stage.
Water pistols, and then loads of the ensemble run out with water pistols. So no one is safe in the theatre whatsoever. We've got the fairy wand, and if I do it, three swirls and point it at Jarred, you'll turn into a pumpkin. One. Two. Three. Oh!
There's boots, the cat - the cat, beatboxing cat
Showtime.
Rightio team, we are in the interval. We're about to start the second section and it has been a rocket ship. Oh my gosh. So much noise from the crowd. The kids are absolutely loving it.
Thank you so much for joining us backstage for our pantomime adventure. Have a Merry Christmas everyone.
And that comes from not just me, but from this crazy lot as well. Especially this one. Oh no, it doesn't. Merry Christmas Bitesize. Thanks for hanging out.
Did you know…
1. Dick Whittington was real
The pantomime Jarred is starring in - Dick Whittington - was actually based on the life of a real mayor of London who died in 1423.
In 1656 Thomas Heywood wrote 'The Famous and Remarkable History of Sir Richard Whittington', where he detailed the history of this famous London mayor's life. Although against popular pantomime belief there is no evidence that he actually ever had a cat.
2. The villain always enters from stage left
Most pantomimes have a hero and a villain.
A traditional pantomime custom is that good characters will always enter from stage right and the bad characters will always appear from stage left.
This tradition comes from the idea that left represents all things wicked and right represents all things good.
3. Pantomime superstitions
Like many theatre performances, pantomimes have many superstitions.
One important superstition is that you don't say the last lines of the finale, which is traditionally a consecutive pair of rhyming verses, during rehearsal or you risk getting bad luck.
The first time the words are allowed to be said is on opening night.
If you want to see more from Jarred, check him and the rest of the Dick Whittington cast out at the De Montford Hall in Leicester
This article was published in December 2025.
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