What is a pantomime? Iain Lauchlan explains all

Every year, the Belgrade Theatre's annual pantomime is a huge hit with Coventry families, bringing audiences of all ages together to share in the magic of live theatre. But if you've never been to see a panto before, you might be wondering what it is or what you can expect from it... Here at the Belgrade, we want to make sure that we're as open and welcoming as possible to all sorts of different people. But we realise that pantomime is a very unique kind of performance, with lots of elements that might seem strange or unusual to those who have never seen one before, including people from other cultures or countries where pantomimes don't exist, or for people with conditions that mean it's helpful to know what's going to happen before they arrive at the theatre. You might be wondering, for example, why there are men dressed as women and women dressed as men, or what to do when the characters on stage speak to the audience. To help answer any questions you might have, we enlisted the help of the Belgrade panto's resident writer, director and Dame, Iain Lauchlan, to put together a quick video about the origins and traditions of pantomime. Having been writing and starring in pantomimes for over twenty years, Iain really knows his stuff, so he's the perfect person to tell you all about it!