The beginning of the book takes place at Christmas, and Daniel is in a pantomime. Pantomime (informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent, in other English-speaking countries. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing, employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale.
Coco spends Easter in Slovakia, where Marika comes from. Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south.
That summer there is an epidemic of swine flu, and Marika and Adam get it. Swine influenza is an infection caused by any one of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus or swine-origin influenza virus is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs.
Coco writes a play based on her book, which is performed in the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (often referred to as simply The Fringe) is the world’s largest arts festival, which in 2017 spanned 25 days and featured 53,232 performances of 3,398 shows in 300 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Edinburgh, Scotland, in the month of August. It is an open access performing arts festival, meaning there is no selection committee, and anyone may participate, with any type of performance. The official Fringe Programme categorises shows into sections for theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions and events. Comedy is the largest section and the one that in modern times has the highest public profile, due in part to the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
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