Ambregris - Mickael Titrent

Things To Do

Hattie Lloyd 19/12/23


MimeLondon

The world’s top mime artists don’t have a lot to say for themselves.

Which is why, for the past half century, the London International Mime Festival has been doing it for them, staging eccentric, athletic, intimate and downright impressive performances plucked from the vast range of disciplines that come under the ‘mime’ umbrella.

Sadly, the LIMF held its last official festival in 2023 – but the good news is that the festival’s directors are teaming up with the Barbican to host a micro festival next January, under the title ‘MimeLondon’.

mimelondon entranas

Entrañas – Clara Larrea

The LIMF had grown so much in recent years that, if anything, there were almost too many shows to take in – so MimeLondon is essentially going to be a curated digest, inviting four companies to stage their most exciting new shows.

They are:

  • Ambregris – showing in the UK for the first time, this show is set in a perfume cabinet “which is part ribcage, part musical organ”. Inspired by the tale of Pinocchio, it’s a mesmerising, slightly spooky meditation on the twists and turns of life, featuring walking noses and Charlie Chaplin… as an insect.
  • Antechamber – This one’s already sold out, but you might be able to get day tickets… Stereoptik are an artistic duo who create animations in real time that are projected on a giant screen. Only it’s not done with computers: one of them sits surrounded by instruments creating a live soundtrack, while the other manipulates sand, ink, paint and card to create visions that appear, morph, and disappear before your eyes. It’s basically shadow puppetry on hard mode.
mimelondon

Antechamber

  • Entrañas (Insides) – Renowned Spanish theatre company El Patio Teatro take you on a poetic journey inside the body, bringing together a bespoke soundtrack, fleeting images and hand-crafted props to tell a story without words.
  • This & That – similar to Antechamber, this show from NYC’s award winning duo Phil Soltanoff and Steven Wendt creates a show live on stage that uses projections, shadow puppetry and animation to conjure everything from cowboys to disco dancers, while improvising an orchestral soundtrack.

So there we go – it’s short and sweet, but perfectly encapsulates the huge variety of wordless performance art that’s being made across the world today. And it just goes to show…

…mime is anything but black and white.

 

NOTE: MimeLondon takes place between 23rd January and 17th February 2024 at the Barbican. You can find out more about what’s on, and book tickets (£18), right HERE.

MimeLondon | The Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS


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London International Mime Festival


Barbican Centre, Silk Street, Barbican, EC2Y 8DS