Mime is at last ready to be taken seriously! LaLaLuna will be at this year's London International Mime Festival.
It seems that there is a bourgeoning trend to rid our screens and stages of actors altogether. Not only has James Cameron just announced his intention to direct a film in which half the cast are computer-animated, but the London International Mime Festival, which opens tomorrow, is putting animation alongside puppets on stage.
Perish the thought that mime artists are still sporting bowler hats and white gloves. Contemporary mime goes radically beyond the simple replacement of words with gesture; it's an exciting cocktail of puppetry, circus arts and acrobatics, with a sprinkling of audiovisual effects to round it off.
Running January 13-28 at venues throughout central London, the 29th festival promises to deliver boundary-breaking visual theatre reflecting our digital age. The programme will showcase a wide array of acts that persistently challenge our preconceptions of mime with their indiscriminate inclusion of various other art forms. From theatre, puppetry and acrobatics to shows using the previously forbidden spoken word and songs, there's likely to be something for everyone.
Unfortunately attending them all looks like it might prove a little challenging, so these are the ones that have caught my discerning eye ...
Kicking off the festival is one of the most established names in the field, circus-inspired performer Jean-Baptiste André from France. The gymnast has been touring the world since LIMF05, and returns this year with a much-anticipated new show encapsulating video art to explore the sinister side of clowning.
American's Rainpan 43 are premiering in London this year following success at the Edinburgh Festival. In their surreal comedy we follow two silent movie actors who mysteriously fall from film and find themselves before a studio audience, and are understandably disorientated. Using an exciting blend of ventriloquism and film the duo try to make sense of the absurdity that surrounds them on their journey back into their screen world.
Masters in the art of illusion, the legendary Phillipe Genty Company introduce their new show La Fin des Terres. Using tricks of perspective and proportion and with the help of a multi-sized cast of puppets, this visually stunning show leads its audience on an enchanting journey through their imaginations.
Puppetry and animation fans shouldn't miss the opportunity to see Faulty Optic's peculiar field of mechanical theatre. Using complex micro installations backed by a specially composed soundtrack the show draws on an interesting range of established performance traditions.
Finally, new British physical Theatre artists Ockham's Razor are definitely worth a look in; with some physically challenging moves they specialise in creating exciting work on pieces of aerial equipment?!
So, safe in the knowledge that it won't all be black and white, I urge you all to indulge in a little mime; and if reading all this has left you really enthused by the idea of contemporary mime, why not go a step further and enrol in one of the workshops too?
