harlequinade

Entertainment popular in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, in which the principal characters were derived from the Italian commedia dell'arte. The story followed a set pattern, with the frantic pursuit of the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine by the father or guardian Pantaloon and his servant Pierrot. The genre was a combination of music and mime, and machinery was used to create striking stage effects.

In the 19th century, Joseph Grimaldi made Clown, a new character, into the central figure, and a tradition grew up by which the opening scene was based on a well-known fairy story. This grew in importance and developed into the British pantomime, while the harlequinade dwindled into an appendage and, in the 20th century, disappeared altogether.