Pantomimes have such a strong connection to British theatre culture at Christmas that we’ve stopped noticing what else is available to experience during the festive season.
The West End is bursting with many more options than its panto-focused marketing suggests – and audiences deserve to know what they’re actually choosing between.
As November settles in, the West End has already shifted into yuletide mode; pantomime posters are going up, theatres are heavily advertising their festive productions, and somewhere, someone is asking: “What panto are we seeing this year?”
The almost unquestioned dominance pantomimes have in theatregoers’ minds and marketers’ budgets mean the drama-filled plays, comedies, and dance-driven shows could fall by the wayside when it comes to what festive shows we see.
So while pantos have done wonderful things for theatre, why is it seemingly the default option to experience a Christmas show, and what are the other options?
The positives of pantomime
Let’s be clear: pantomime is a shimmering strength of the West End scene. It’s synonymous with modern British Christmas traditions, and so many of us have a powerful nostalgic connection to it.
They are often designed for families, accessible, and full of participation, which helps lead audiences into theatres who might not otherwise go.
Not only this, pantomimes offer a rite of passage for children, a wholesome return to childhood for adults without intellectual heavy lifting, and is participatory in a way few other theatrical forms are, which helps create genuine moments of community.
Pantomimes are also financially robust for theatres, which means they deeply matter for the stability of the theatre scene as a whole. The revenue from successful pantos helps theatres fund riskier productions and support emerging artists.
The question at hand, therefore, isn’t whether pantomime deserves its place at Christmas, as it absolutely does.
But the question is whether it deserves to be the only conversation about what Christmas theatre can be, and how to balance it with other options. Without doing so, other shows may be prevented from getting discovered and experienced by audiences.
The Christmas shows you’re not hearing about
The reality is that the West End this festive season has something to offer for everyone far more than pantomimes – but only if you look beyond the dominance they have.
There are shows such as A Christmas Carol that offer a more serious, atmospheric take on the season, while options like Christmas Carol Goes Wrong provide comedy through a different lens; slapstick chaos rather than panto-style participation.
Beyond these, there’s filthy-fun festive musical parody A Homo Alone 2: Yikes, We Did It Again! the witty, festive Pride and Prejudice sequel Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, family favourites such as The Snowman, and for those who prefer a dance-led production, there’s the 30th anniversary production of Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella.
See a full list of the shows (including pantos) in London available this Christmas season.
A more balanced Christmas season at the theatre
A more balanced West End would use the Christmas season to showcase the full range of what London theatre can be. It would market pantomime robustly, because pantomime deserves that (and audiences want it), but it would market the alternatives with comparable confidence and visibility.
Alongside this, a healthier theatre scene during the festive season would treat the question “what show shall we see at Christmas?” as genuinely open, rather than pre-answered by tradition and marketing.
This change would require the theatre industry to truly boast about and market its new plays, comedies and dance pieces running at Christmastime just as much as its pantos.
Most importantly, it would treat Christmas as an opportunity to expand who goes into theatres, and move away from potentially narrowing the conversation to what’s loudest.
Panto…and beyond
As the West End moves further into the festive season, conversations around what is available to see over Christmas truly matter. They matter for audiences who deserve to know what’s actually available to them, for theatres that offer alternatives and deserve visibility for their work, and for the theatre industry’s long-term health.
A theatre landscape that can support diverse Christmas programming is ultimately stronger than one where everything hinges on panto success.
Essentially, the answer is that a West End Christmas doesn’t automatically mean pantomimes. It can, but can also mean dance shows, festive comedies, and family shows.
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