Transcript Mime - Holy Cross Collegiate

Mime
History of Mime
 Mime is considered one of the earliest mediums of self-
expression. From the very early beginnings of primitive
man before speech, cave men mimed the actions and
movements of the world around them. Gestures were
developed and by body posture that developed into the
most simplest forms of communication. This most
fundamental way of learning is still the basis of how
babies discover their world today, through imitation.
Instead of fading into nothing when the spoken language
was developed, mime had became a form of
entertainment. It then developed into a true theatrical
form in ancient Greece, where performers enacted
everyday scenes with the help of elaborate gestures.
Ancient Greeks and Romans
 It all began in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Greece. Ancient
Greek Masked actors performed mime outdoors, in daylight at
festivals everyday in honour of Dionysus, the God of theatre. They
usually performed of dramatic character-centred mimes called
‘hypotheses’ in front of thousands of people in the theatre.
The comedy and tragedy, developed in Athens, have influenced
nearly all Western drama, starting with that of the Romans. When
the Romans conquered Greece, they brought Greek art of mime
back to Italy and set about making it their own.
The Roman soon took over the existing theatres in Greece and
began rebuilding them for their own spectacles, which included
everything from pantomime to mock- naval battles. The remains of
the Theatre of Dionysus which we can see in Athens today date to
Roman times and not the fifth century BC.
Ancient Greek Theatre
 Ancient Greek theatre such as Theatre of Dionysus in
Athens has a different structure to theatres today.
The core of any Greek theatre is the orchestra and
behind it is the main stage where the actors perform
whereas modern theatres the stage is at the front and
the orchestra is at the bottom and not visible.
Commedia del’Arte
 Mime continued to entertain through the Middle
Ages, in sixteenth century Italy, in the form of
Commedia dell‘ Arte.
Commedia dell‘ Arte originated in the market places
of the Italian streets in the early 1500's. Street
performers began donning masks with exaggerated
comical features to draw attention to themselves
Marcel Marceau
 Marcel Marceau was born in Strasbourg, France
(22nd March 1923 – 22nd September 2007).
Marceau's interest in the art of mime began at an
early age when he would imitate with gestures
anything that fired his imagination.
Later he discovered such silent screen artists as
Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon,
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and his admiration for
these great actors inspired him to pursue the art of
silence as a profession.
Charlie Chaplin
 Universally acclaimed as the world's greatest silent
comedy actor, Charlie Chaplin was born 16th April 1889
but died on the 25th December 1977. He was best known
for his character, the naïve but lovable tramp. His
character costume is a suit with the trousers that is too
big for him and the waist coat too small and he carries a
cane around with him.
Chaplin was born in England and them toured in
America and stayed there filming in the early 19th
century television was really basic. As it was difficult to
make things funny on T.V. back then, Charlie used bold,
wired movement and exaggerated emotions so people
understand and recognised what he was feeling.
Factors that Affected Mime
 Social factors
People perform and entertain to become famous and
to entertain everyone whereas before for example in
the Greeks times they performed to have fun. Mime
has become part of cultural identity of some regions
like France and are main feature in many festivals.
 Technological Factors
Technology has had a big impact on mime. In the
olden times, before technology was invented,
performers performed outdoors in the daylight
because there was no lighting like today. Also the
theatre in the Greek times, was built in a way that
the audience will be able to hear the show whereas
now they have microphone to project their voiceand
we have lightings so we could perform indoors and
late at night hours.
 Historical factors
Today, performance are based on anything from very
childish shows, to very serious shows. In the
historical times example Tudor England, acting and
drama was very popular because Queen Elizabeth
loved watching plays therefore there was
competitions between troupes to see who came up
with the better performances for the queen.
 Economic factors
Today when performing, performers are likely to
receive money and fame. Back in the very olden days
performing was about entertainment and in the
Greeks they performed in honour of Dionysus, God
of Theatre.