History of Mime and Comedia Dell Arte'

Mime

Mime is considered one of the earliest forms of expression. Before there was spoken language, silent gestures (mime) was used. In ancient Greece, mime was turned into a form of entertainment. The mimes were known as ethologues and would often have a moral to teach the audience.

The theater of Dionysus in Athens was where mime in Greece really exploded. Masked actors performed outdoors, in daylight, before audiences of 10,000 or more at festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of theater. However, when the Romans conquered Greece, they brought the Greek art of mime back to Italy and set about making it their own. Mime enjoyed much success and growth under Emperor Augustus of Rome.

After the fall of the Roman empire, the Christian church showed great opposition to the bawdy, and often indecent associations of Mime, and excommunicated all performers, and closed down all the theaters. Despite this, the basic form of Mime survived. As the Church began to relax its attitude, mystery and morality plays began to appear with religious themes, many performed in mime.



Comedia Dell Arte'

Through out the middle ages mime continued to be a strong form of entertainment in Italy, but became known as Comedia Dell Arte'. It originated in the streets of the Italian market in the 1500's. The performers wore masks to draw attention to themselves. These characters became known as Zanni. They would commonly make fun of royalty, hiding behind their masks. The more of a scene they made, the more popular they would become. They left Italy and moved to different parts of Europe, its not like language was barrier.

Charlie Chaplin is a good example of Comedia Dell Arte':


Modern Mime

After the second world war, Marcel Marceau come onto the scene. He created the character 'Bip', the classic mime with the face paint, top hat with the flower coming out of the top and the short jacket. Influenced by the silent film stars like Chaplin, and Keaton, Marceau was the designer of a new style and tradition, the true creator and master of modern mime as we know it today.

There are two types of mime, Literal and Abstract or a combination of both. Literal mime is used for comedy and story theater. Literal mime usually tells a story with a conflict through the use of a main character. The actions and visual design clearly tell the viewers the story which is usually humorous. Abstract mime is used to generate feelings, thoughts and images from a serious topic or issue. Normally there is no plot or central character. It is considered a more intuitive experience or image rather than literal actions.

Here is an example of literal mime:


Works Cited:

Felner, Mira and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation.
New York: Pearson Books, 2006. Print.

The Origins and Development of the Art of Mime by Annette Lust.
Service, 01 January. 2003. Web. 03 October. 2009.
< http://www.mime.info/history-lust.html>

Marcel Marceau. Wikipedia.
Service, 06 October. 2009. Web. 06 October. 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau>