Mime and pantomime

Mime and pantomime are a pair of theatrical art forms that are rooted in gestural performance. Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they refer to two different types of performance art. Mime is a silent form of performance art that involves communicating only through movement. Pantomime refers to a popular form of British theater that involves elaborate music, dance, and comedy. Some of the mime and pantomime genres' most well-known performers include pantomime innovator Dan Leno and French mime Marcel Marceau. The historic roots of mime and pantomime can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Romans. As both art forms developed over time, mime became popular in France, while pantomime flourished in Great Britain. Mime and pantomime remain popular forms of entertainment worldwide into the twenty-first century.

Background

Mime is a form of entertainment in which a silent performer, who is also called a mime, uses movement, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate and tell a story. Despite restricting themselves to nonverbal communication, skilled mimes can communicate a simple narrative, convey feelings, and provoke an emotional response from audiences.

Modern mime is divided into two separate schools: literal mime and abstract mime. Literal mime is narrative driven and includes story, plot, and characters. Most literal mime performances are like humorous plays. Abstract mime performances do not follow a narrative plot or include characters. They instead focus on using the expression of specific feelings or emotions to provoke interpretative thought about a subject. Unlike literal mime, abstract mime usually addresses serious topics or issues.

Traditionally performed during the Christmas season in Great Britain, pantomime plays are humorous send-ups of traditional fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Most pantomime performances feature slapstick comedy, musical numbers, cross-dressing, topical references, dance routines, and mockery of authority figures. Pantomime plays also feature stock characters. Most notable among these are the dame and the principal boy. The dame is a lustful older woman played by a gaudily dressed male actor. The principal boy is a heroic young man who is played by a woman dressed in a tunic, heels, and tights.

Audience participation is an important part of pantomime plays. The audience is encouraged to jeer the villain, argue with the dame, and alert the principal boy to the villain's presence by shouting, "He's behind you!" Pantomime plays often focus on themes such as sex, gender, and social class and revolve around story lines based on the romantic pairing of various characters. Pantomime plays usually feature a musical introduction delivered by a chorus of townspeople, a messy and hilarious slop scene staged in the middle of show, and a closing presentation of the performers in their most elaborate costumes.

Overview

Performers in ancient Greece originated mime and pantomime about 581 BCE. Although early mime included some dialogue, it was mainly based on physical actions. It is believed that Greek mimes generally worked together in small troupes and performed at various banquets. While this made them some of the earliest professional entertainers in history, mimes were not granted admission into the Artists of Dionysus actors' guild.

Over time, the popularity of mime spread into Italy, where it eventually gained a following among the ancient Romans. The first known individual mime was the Roman performer Livius Andronicus. During the Roman era, two types of mime emerged: mimus and pantomimus. While mimus was essentially a form of farce, pantomimus was a risqué and even violent type of performance art. Because of its reputation for debauchery and anti-Christian themes, mime eventually incurred the church's wrath. Ultimately, all mimes were excommunicated in the fifth century, and the art of mime fell into decline. Many elements of Roman mime later resurfaced as part of the classic sixteenth century Italian commedia dell'arte theater form. The commedia dell'arte gave rise to mime's modern form.

Modern mime evolved primarily in the twentieth century through the theatrical innovation of several figures. Performer Jean-Gaspard Deburau introduced the white-faced appearance commonly associated with mimes. Marcel Marceau, through his character Bip, popularized the art of mime worldwide and defined the image that most people associate with mime.

The development of pantomime separate from traditional mime began after the rise of commedia dell'arte. In the 1720s, English dancer and theater manager John Rich created a new type of entertainment that combined the story of Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses with a type of comic play called a harlequinade. Known as pantomime, this brand of performance art was popular but controversial. Many critics argued that the frivolous, madcap nature of pantomime presented a threat to the survival of serious theater. To prevent this from happening, actor-manager David Garrick decided to limit the performance of pantomime shows to the holiday season.

Joseph Grimaldi continued to develop pantomime into the nineteenth century. Grimaldi introduced many of the conventions typically associated with pantomime, including the famous butter slide gag that takes place when a character slips on a doorstep. His most important contribution was the introduction of the clown, a comic stock character around which most pantomimes revolved at the time. Around this period, pantomime first began to incorporate fairy tales and nursery rhymes into story lines. Later in the nineteenth century, performer Leno introduced the modern dame, a character that eventually replaced the clown as the central figure on the pantomime stage. Unlike its more outlandish predecessors, Leno's dame was a relatable character with believable human qualities with whom audiences could easily connect. By the time of Leno's death in the early twentieth century, pantomime was close to its present form.

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