Principally boys? Gender dynamics and casting practices in modern British pantomime

Pantomime's history is one of evolutionary transformation, and its modern incarnation as a multi-million-pound industry has seen a significant change in its treatment of the stock characters: the female principal boy and the male dame, skin parts and speciality acts. This article examines gender dynamics and casting practices contingent upon the relationship between pantomime companies' aesthetic identification with, or rejection of, mediatized popular culture. Qdos Entertainment and the in-house panto companies at the Nottingham Playhouse and York Theatre Royal provide case studies for tracing the generic modifications in pantomime praxis. The ascendancy of the cross-dressed dame and the concomitant decline of the female principal boy reflect the employment opportunities and casualties produced by British pantomime's current market placements