Marcel Marceau as the Contemporary Mime Spokesman Cover Image

Marcel Marceau jako rzecznik mimu współczesnego
Marcel Marceau as the Contemporary Mime Spokesman

Author(s): Anna Krzyżak
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts
Published by: Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: actor; anthropology of theater; gesture; identification; mime; theater; silence; pantomime; philosophy

Summary/Abstract: The article is a sketch of the subject of mime, a theatrical form known since the ancient times, but nowadays existing in a new version. A contemporary mime that came into being based on the research of avant-garde theoreticians and practitioners of the early 20th century theatre owes its current shape to the French artists such as Étienne Decroux, Marcel Marceau, and Jean-Louis Barrault. The presented concept of mime is based on Marceau’s theory and practice—both having a particular philosophical touch. Marceau who dedicated his life to promoting theory and methodology of contemporary mime by means of performances, interviews and teaching has become a mime expert whose work has a timeless quality worldwide.These days mime is becoming a kind of theatre where silence plays the key role and becomes a new dimension of a human being when words fail, and where an actor-mime with perfect technical skills makes the invisible visible on stage. The article consists of two parts. The first part outlines a historical context of mime. It also tries to organize its terminology. The second one presents philosophical and technical aspects of contemporary mime on the basis of Marcel Marceau’s work.

  • Issue Year: 9/2018
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 55-75
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Polish