By Sabrina Ali 10Y

What is mime?Mime is a performance were the actor only uses gestures and facial

expressions. Mimics don’t talk and mostly use sound or music. They

hardly use real objects but if they do they use very few maybe only

one.

Where did it

begin?Mime came from sign language and evolved into entertainment. Mime began in western Rome and Greece. Every year

Greeks had a festival to celebrate their God DIONYSUS. He was the God of the wine, fertility and celebration. The

Greeks held performances were the people competed each other, one had to be a ‘tragedy’ and one had to be a

‘comedy’ this is were the sign for drama came from. They were worn because the stages in the past were outside and

the carved out the seats in mountains. The actors had to were these masks which were very big so the audience at

the back could see what is going on. They also had to use exaggerated movement so the audience could see.

Religious PlaysWhen drama later arrived in the UK in the Middle Ages the

performances gradually became vulgar. The church which made

a lot of decisions at the time became very strict about storylines.

The church therefore had many of the performances done as

part of its religious ceremonies. However, the people soon got

bored of these religious performances in Latin, a language the

common man did not know. As a result the plays soon left the

church again, giving rise to the three earliest forms of British

plays: Mystery, Miracle and Morality plays.

Different types of

Religious playsMystery plays based on Bible stories were popular. Clergymen were the

actors. Each presentation was broken up, and staged all over town. One stage

was located right outside the local church. Another scene might be staged in a

wagon that was pulled through town. Some scenes were placed in different

parts of town. The audience moved from stage to stage. The mystery plays

were quite fun and very well attended by commoners and nobles alike. The

stories included the Birth of Jesus, The Wise Men, and the Flight Into Egypt. It

should be obvious what Miracle and Morality plays were about.

Skene - Main stageWhere the actual performance takes place.

SeatsWhere the audience sit.

Orkestra -ChorusThis is were a group of people stood to

narrate the play

so the audience can understand what is

going in.

Greek Theatre

Factors Social - People performed to become famous and to entertain everyone. This is an event for

everyone to come and join in. mimes have become part of cultural identity of some regions like France and are a main feature in many festivals.

Technological - Back in the days before technology was invented the

performers used man made noises. For example a group of people standing at the Okestra would be the voice of one character so people at the end of the outdoor theatre would be able to hear. Where as now people use microphones to project their voices.

Economic - Theatre was very demanding industry and so people performed for money. It has

provided jobs for many creative people. Mime is one area of drama that needs more funding from the government to develop further.

Historical - Theatre was unknown and most people dismissed it in the Tudor times. Queen

Elizabeth wanted to help promote theatre so she invested money in theatre because she was very passionate about it.

Some of the best

mime artists?Charlie Chaplin was one of the most best mimics of our

time or ‘silent’ movie star. he was born in 1889 and died

1977. He was best known for his character, the naive and

lovable Little Tramp. The Little Tramp. He wore raggedy

suit with cane. Charlie was born in England and then

toured in America and stayed there filming in the early

19th century television was really basic. It must have

been really difficult to make things funny. So what Charlie

did was use bold, wired movement and exaggerated

emotions so people understood and recognized what he

was feeling.

French & Mime Mime became very popular around Paris in the 1800’s. there was quit a few very

famous mime artist in France such as Marcel Marcaeu, Etinne Decroux Jean

Louis Barrault and many more. The new wave of theatre in France (1930-50)

were very focused on physical theatre and used mime as a tool for research,

training and productions. Soon mime became a ‘FRENCH THING’

(synonymous to France).

Marcel MarceauMarcel Marceau was born 22 March 1923 in Strasbourg, France and died 22 September 2007. He was a very famous mime artist who was born in France and most of his performances were there to. Marcel was only a teenager when WW2 and fled with his family to Limegos. Marcel and his brother changed their last name to ‘Marceau’ soon after their father (kosher butcher) was arrested and taken into a concentration camp. The two brothers joined the French Resistance in Limoges, where they saved numerous children from the race laws and concentration camps. Marcel started miming as a way of keeping the children quiet.

Once that war was finished Marcel became a�student in Charles Dullin's School of Dramatic Art, in the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre in Paris, where he studied with teachers like Joshua Smith and the great master, Étienne Decroux, who had also taught Jean-Louis Barrault. Marceau joined Barrault's

company.

Etienne Decroux

He studied at Jacques Copeau's Ecoledu Vieux-Colombier, where he saw thebeginnings of what was to become his

life's obsession, Corporeal Mime.

Jean Louis BarraultJean was also a French mime, actorand director who studied mime withEtienne Decroux. Over his career,he acted in nearly 50 Frenchmovies including Les beaux jours,Jenny, L'Or dans la Montagne andSous les Yeux d'occident.

Some of the best mime

artists NOW? Mr. Bean is a very famous English mimic played by Rowan Akinson. But the difference with Mr. Bean is that he performs in a set with objects . Mr. Bean doesn’t talk so that is related to mime and he always has exaggerated facial expressions so people understand his feelings.

Mimes costume Mimes mostly wear black and white clothes. Make up is an essential element of

the mime ‘look’ and to complete it, white face paint has to be applied. Black

colored lip paint and other colored face paint can be applied for making the

mime attractive.

Bibliography• http://www.members.tripod.com/~kiko_

mime/history.html

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmaste

rs/episodes/charlie-chaplin/about-the-

actor/77/

• http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/plays

.html