As families look forward to attending the annual pantomime and cries of ‘He’s behind you!’ ring out in theatres, archivists at the University of Kent have discovered a remarkable drawing by the actor acclaimed as one of the greatest pantomime dames.
Dan Leno drew the sketch, depicting a woman with an ‘old woman’s’ head and a ‘young woman’s’ head and with the caption “60 years of age to 16 years of age”, while starring in Mother Goose at Drury Lane in 1902-03.
The picture captures the moment in the pantomime when old Mother Goose is transformed into a beautiful young woman in exchange for her magic goose – only to learn that youth and beauty isn’t everything.
Born George Galvin in 1860, Leno was a music hall comedian who became famous for his annual performances as a pantomime dame at Drury Lane.
Sadly, while he made the drawing while acting in Mother Goose, he was beginning to experience mental health problems. After the production he was admitted to Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum. He was released later that year and returned to Drury Lane in a production of Humpty Dumpty in winter 1903, but died the following year.
The drawing was found in the David Drummond Pantomime Collection at the University of Kent, which contains materials covering British pantomime from 1800 to the 21st century.
It was uncovered as part of ‘Oh Yes It Is!’, a project to catalogue the collection funded by The National Archives, the Pilgrim Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.
Items from the collection will be on display at the University’s Templeman Library until 28 February 2025.
Karen Brayshaw, Special Collections and Archives Manager, at the University of Kent, said: “So many fabulous items have been revealed. Hundreds of colourful playbills, posters and flyers show how pantomime has developed featuring famous names from nineteenth century music hall to modern day soaps and television personalities.”
