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Vintage Red Riding Hood Theater Poster

Pantomime Theatre – Red Riding Hood

Reproduction of a gorgeous 1930’s vintage stone litho printed image from the story, Red Riding Hood. The image has Red Riding Hood in the middle of the image, with the wolf gazing at her behind a tree on one side, and her welcoming Grandmother on the other.

This poster was used to advertise the live pantomime style performance for a theatre in England. Pantomime , is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is generally performed during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, employs gender-crossing actors, and combines topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale. It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre, and it developed partly from the 16th-century commedia dell’arte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques. An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. The pantomime is performed today throughout Britain and, to a lesser extent, in other English-speaking countries.

“Little Red Riding Hood”, or “Little Red Ridinghood”, also known as “Little Red Cap” or simply “Red Riding Hood”, is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. Its origins can be traced back to the 10th century by several European folk tales, including one from Italy called The False Grandmother (Italian: La finta nonna), later written among others by Italo Calvino in the Italian Folktales collection; the best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and Brothers Grimm. The story has been changed considerably in various retellings and subjected to numerous modern adaptations and readings. It is number 333 in the Aarne-Thompson classification system for folktales. Variations of the story have developed, incorporating various cultural beliefs and regional dialects into the story. An example of this is “Kawoni’s Journey Across the Mountain: A Cherokee Little Red Riding Hood”, which introduces Cherokee myths and language into the traditional story. Another such example is “Petite Rouge Riding Hood”, which approaches the story from a Cajun perspective