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Japan has a well-known form of puppet show called bunraku (doll theatre). The puppets are about 120 cm tall. They look realistic, with movable eyes, mouth and eyebrows. Three puppeteers dressed in black operate them with rods from behind. The men who control the puppets, train all their lives to become master puppeteers. Many important Japanese dramatists of 1700s wrote plays especially for the doll theatre. During the 1700s, pantomime plays were popular in England and France. Early English pantomimes always used a servant clown called Harlequin /'ha:likwin/, a lovable father called Pantaloon and a lively daughter called Columbine /'kDbmbain/. In the early 1800s, English pantomimes added a new character called Clown. Those shows combined music and songs, dancing and acrobatic acts and had wonderful sets. Today, Christmas entertainment in Britain includes pantomimes, called pantos, that follow this practice. The best-known centre of professional theatre in the United States is New York City, though Chicago Дікскдзи/, Seattle /si'aetl/, and Los Angeles have become important centres as well. The theatres on and near Broadway have long been the most important in the United States.
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