Tuesday, January 20, 2015

A Trip to the Theatre

Do you always go to the cinema instead of (en vez de) the theatre? If the answer is yes, you don’t know what you are missing. Theatre gives you the opportunity to see talented actors and actresses live (en directo) Today, we take a special look at theatre in Wales –the world-famous International Festival of Musical Theatre in Cardiff, the world of pantomime, including the Jack and the Beanstalk story, and contemporary Welsh theatre.

Musical Theatre
The most popular form of theatre in Wales is musical theatre. This became fashionable during the 1940s with the playwrights (escritores) Ivor Novello and Harry Davies. The latter (el último) produced Full Swing, and The Lisbon Story, with its songs Red Sails In The Sunset and Pedro The Fisherman, which are still being shown to large audiences. In the sixties Julian More wrote the memorable hits Grab Me A Gondola, Expresso Bongo, and The Golden Touch.

      
The Pantomime 
At Christmas time, theatres in Wales and the rest of Britain perform their annual pantomime. This is family entertainment that is extremely popular with young children. This theatre genre brings a mixture of song, dance, slapstick (bufonada) and satire to storylines (argumentos) loosely (libremente) based on traditional children’s stories. It traditionally has some conventions unique to theatre, where the main male character (personaje malvado masculino) is performed by a young woman, and the part of an older woman is acted by a man in drag.(vestido de mujer) There is also pantomime cow or horse consisting of two actors in a single costume. One is the head and front legs, while the other is the body and hind legs.(patas traseras) The actors on stage encourage audience participation, who often shout “he's behind you!”, "oh yes it is!" or "oh no it isn't!". Below are some popular Pantomime shows that are regularly performed at Christmas time throughout (por todo) Britain.
 
Cinderella 
Sleeping Beauty 
Dick Whittington 
Goldilocks and the Three Bears 
Jack and the Beanstalk 
Snow White 
Mother Goose 
Peter Pan 

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