During December (and I think it carries on through to January) theatres all around the country put on these Pantomime plays. They are well publicized on the telly and in other media so it's pretty impossible to ignore them.
I've never been to see a Panto so I can only tell you what I've heard from other people who have been. I've been told it's a very fun family experience.
The stories are always based on well-known fairytales which the kids love, but they add unusual twists to the plots and quite a bit of innuendo - the latter is probably more for the benefit of the adults. The other tradition in Panto is they almost always cast male actors in the female lead role and vice versa. In the more expensive productions they use TV celebrities - mostly soap opera stars because their names and faces are well-known.
The difference between a Pantomime and a normal play is the audience interaction. During the course of the play, the cast members regularly speak directly to the audience and also expect the audience to reply. I'd imagine there would be plenty of hissing and booing whenever the baddie is doing his thing and shouts of "He's behind you!" as a warning to the good guys. I think the actors may also venture into the audience at times, and I've heard it can be slightly dangerous to sit in the front rows as it puts you right in the line of fire, so to speak.
I know that Pantomime as a tradition stretches back a long way in the UK, but I'm not sure when exactly it started or how much it has changed over the years.
Our "new" American Christmas tradition is the gaudy light show that goes up in the suburbs. It's all quite tacky, but interesting enough to walk around and see.
We live in an old suburb very close to the city centre. I think our neighbourhood fancies themselves as too posh to put up elaborate lighting displays like the ones you describe - around here it's limited to tastefully-decorated trees in front windows. It beats me how they always get them to look so perfect - not a needle out of place and all lights evenly distributed. Maybe they pay someone to come in and do it for them?
These days I'm happy to let the kids decorate ours and it looks just fine to me.
When we travel down to see my in-laws in England, it's a different story. Decorations in their village are fairly subtle but the light show on the outskirts seems to be getting bigger and brighter each year. One house in particular has a large yard at the front which is always completely full of lit-up Christmas motifs. The house itself doesn't escape the gaudy treatment either. From memory, I think there is usually a flashing Santa's sled and reindeer positioned on the roof. Our kids always gaze in awe at this display as we drive past.
I don't venture to the outer suburbs of Inverness very often, but I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar there. There is certainly a large array of super-sized Christmas lighting decorations available to buy in the local DIY stores, so someone must be buying it.
Unless the "creche re-enactments" here fall under mummery.
That is a big part of Christmas tradition in schools here too. However, in recent times I've noticed a shift away from plays which portray the story of Jesus' birth - especially in the primary grades. Now that the body of students has become more multicultural, they try to avoid emphasising the importance of one religion over another and select more general themes for the Christmas play. There is always some moral content but it's presented in a light-hearted, non-religious way. On the other hand, there is still a firm emphasis on Christian religion at the schools my children attend. Not only is there a compulsory Christmas service held for the students, teachers (and parents, if they wish) at the church beside the school, there is also an end-of-term service (prize-giving mixed in with hymns and sermons) in the summer.
I think I rather strayed from my original topic, didn't I?
Thanks for the feedback on the customs, Tim. Btw, I nicked part of the background in my montage from the end papers of a Disney story book. It was originally a day-time scene with cloudy blue sky until I edited it. I'm quite proud of the end result.
