What is Mime Theatre?

Mime Theatre (also called Theatrical Mime) is a genre of performance in which the actor’s body is the primary means of expression. It is most often entirely non-verbal, but even when speech is included, it is usually secondary to movement.

Mime Theatre is also actor-centered theatre, where the actor, rather than being only the interpreter of the piece, is at the heart of its creation.

It can vary from a solo performer to a full cast, and from a bare stage to a production employing all the arts that belong to the theatre, including lighting, music, sound, costume, makeup, props, and scenic design.

Unfortunately, some think of mime as a sort of “illegitimate art” whose practitioners bother pedestrians and demonstrate cliché illusions. Yes, street mime exists, but it tends to be more improvisational and interactive with the audience than theatrical mime. Imitators of the style of legendary French mime Marcel Marceau have entertained crowds on sidewalks and in public squares worldwide (and some are quite talented), but Marceau was never a street performer himself. He cultivated mime as an art of the stage, and dedicated himself to elevating it to the level of the other fine arts, like dance, music, painting, and sculpture.

Mime Theatre is a genre of theatre as old as theatre itself, and can be as profound, poetic, comic, or dramatic as any art of the stage. With its roots in ancient Greece and the Renaissance Commedia dell’Arte, it has developed in modern times into a highly-skilled actor’s art that requires extensive study of its physical techniques and dramatic principles.

Mime Theatre is a complete art in itself, and those who learn it will find it also enhances their work in other performing arts such as verbal theatre, acting for film and television, dance, improv theatre, stand-up comedy, and more.