The great French mime performer, Claude Kipnis, reveals the mechanisms and techniques of mime in an easy-to-understand translation. This is not a theoretical "art of" book, but a functional "how to" and "why to" instructional guide. Individual exercises are included, together with detailed coverage of body movements, the illusion and how to create a world. We know of no other book that so comprehensively explains how the functions of mime are achieved. Certainly a basic text for any aspiring mime.

Despite its unabated popularity with audiences, slapstick has received rather little scholarly attention, mostly by scholars concentrating on the US theater and cinema traditions. Nonetheless, as a form of physical humor slapstick has a long history across various areas of cultural production. This volume approaches slapstick both as a genre of situational physical comedy and as a mode of communicating an affective situation captured in various cultural products. Contributors to the volume examine cinematic, literary, dramatic, musical, and photographic texts and performances. From medieval chivalric romance and nineteenth-century theater to contemporary photography, the contributors study treatments of slapstick across media, periods and geographic locations. The aim of a study of such wide scope is to demonstrate how slapstick emerged from a variety of complex interactions among different traditions and by extension, to illustrate that slapstick can be highly productive for interdisciplinary research.

Tiberio Fiorilli, also known as Scaramouche, (November 9, 1608 - December 7, 1694) was an Italian actor of commedia dell'arte, popular in France for his role of Scaramouche. He was the director of the troop of the Comediens Italiens, which shared with the troop of his friend Moliere the Theatre of the Petit-Bourbon, and the Theatre of the Palais-Royal. This biography of Fiorilli by his fellow-actor Angelo Constantini was published in Paris in 1695, shortly after the actor's death. The English translation by the dance scholar and historian Cyril W Beaumont, presented here, includes detailed explanatory notes and background information.

1. Of interest to actors and object-animators. 2. Useful for directors, devisers, and collective creators 3. A new way of looking at the theatre history of the 20th century 4. Good for Theatre Anthropologists.

The Decroux Sourcebook is the first point of reference for any student of the 'hidden master' of twentieth century theatre. This book collates a wealth of key material on Etienne Decroux, including: an English translation of Patrice Pezin's 'Imaginary Interview', in which Decroux discusses mime's place in the theatre. previously unpublished articles by Decroux from France's Bibiotheque Nationale. essays from Decroux's fellow innovators Eugenio Barba and Edward Gordon Craig, explaining the synthesis of theory and practice in his work. Etienne Decroux's pioneering work in physical theatre is here richly illustrated not only by a library of source material, but also with a gallery of images following his life, work and influences. The Decroux Sourcebook is an ideal companion to Thomas Leabhart's Etienne Decroux in the Routledge Performance Practitioners series, offering key primary and secondary resources to those conducting research at all levels.

Towards a Theory of Mime is a genuinely unique book about non-verbal communication and performance. Combining a broad global history of the evolution of human communication with an introduction to the general practice of mime, Alexander Iliev traces a lineage from Marceau and Barrault to his own distinguished practice as performer and teacher. The book moves from a fascinating description of the first principles of gestural language to a stunning sequence of specific exercises in practical training. Written in a sometimes poetic, always accessible and often humorous style, Towards a Theory of Mime conveys complex ideas in a strikingly accessible way. Alexander Iliev has over forty years experience practising and teaching both theatre and anthropology around the world. He is currently Associate Professor at the National Academy in Sofia.

Towards a Theory of Mime is a genuinely unique book about non-verbal communication and performance. Combining a broad global history of the evolution of human communication with an introduction to the general practice of mime, Alexander Iliev traces a lineage from Marceau and Barrault to his own distinguished practice as performer and teacher. The book moves from a fascinating description of the first principles of gestural language to a stunning sequence of specific exercises in practical training. Written in a sometimes poetic, always accessible and often humorous style, Towards a Theory of Mime conveys complex ideas in a strikingly accessible way. Alexander Iliev has over forty years experience practising and teaching both theatre and anthropology around the world. He is currently Associate Professor at the National Academy in Sofia.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

J. H. Hordern provides a text (based on Kassel and Austin's Poetae Comici Graeci text but with significant additions), translation, and detailed commentary on the surviving fragments of Sophron's mimes. The commentary deals with both literary and linguistic questions, but focuses particularly on Sophron's relationship with earlier traditions (for example, iambus) and his influence on later literature (for example, the work of Theocritus). A substantial introduction furnishes an overview of the biographical evidence, and discusses the vexed question of audience and performance, arguing that the mimes were essentially symposiac entertainment rather than stage performances. There is detailed discussion of Sophron's dialect and lexicon, the textual tradition, and his impact on post-classical literature.

The Decroux Sourcebook is the first point of reference for any student of the hidden master of twentieth century theatre.

This book collates a wealth of key material on Etienne Decroux, including:

• an English translation of Patrice Pezin s Imaginary Interview, in which Decroux discusses mime s place in the theatre.
• previously unpublished articles by Decroux from France s Bibiotheque Nationale.
• essays from Decroux s fellow innovators Eugenio Barba and Edward Gordon Craig, explaining the synthesis of theory and practice in his work.

Etienne Decroux s pioneering work in physical theatre is here richly illustrated not only by a library of source material, but also with a gallery of images following his life, work and influences.

The Decroux Sourcebook is an ideal companion to Thomas Leabhart s Etienne Decroux in the Routledge Performance Practitioners series, offering key primary and secondary resources to those conducting research at all levels.

This is the first full-length monograph on the history of Dutch mime. Dutch mime is a vibrant and innovatory branch of contemporary theatre which evolved in the margins of the theatre establishment from the early 1960s, leaving far behind its origins in literal pantomime. Mime in this Dutch tradition challenges the audience's perception and experience by centring on the bodies and movement of the performers and audience in relation to scenography, time and space. Dutch mime performers and makers are inventors, inclined to start from zero, an empty space in which nothing is fixed and no laws have been established. Since the 1960s, interdisciplinarity has been at the core of its development: it is a theatre practice that defines itself through connections with visual arts, sculpture, music, installation, land-art, literature, architecture, technology and film. Dutch mime has generated innovation and upheaval in Dutch and international theatre over the decades. However, until now, its history has not been written. This book fills the gap. It examines and articulates specific embodied knowledge that has been characteristic of the Dutch mime tradition since the 1960s. Click here for the Dutch edition: Nederlandse mime.

Mime the Gap: Techniques in Mime and Movement explores the physicality of movement in storytelling, offering new ideas about acting and performance, whilst encouraging a contemporary resurgence of this traditional performance art. With detailed, step-by-step instructions of basic to advanced mime illusions, the book addresses the key areas of physicality, including when to move and when not to move, making the invisible 'visible' and the fundamental principles of physical articulation. Additional topics include how to use the elements of Fire, Earth, Water and Air for physical characterization; techniques for performing classic mime routines, such as the Glass Box and the Moonwalk; how to mime with props and objects, both visible and invisible; using breath, posture and gesture to enhance performance and perceptions, and finally, creating and producing an authentic performance. Offering numerous exercises suitable for solo or group work, this new book will help you to explore and develop your physicality and build an awareness of how to apply it to a performance.

'In life, I want students to be alive and on stage I want them to be artists' Jacques Lecoq Jacques Lecoq was one of the most inspirational theatre teachers of our age. In The Moving Body, he shares with us first-hand his unique philosophy of performance, improvisation, masks, movement and gesture, which together form one of the greatest influences on contemporary theatre. Neutral mask, character mask and counter masks, bouffons, acrobatics, commedia, clowns and complicity: all the famous Lecoq techniques are covered in this book - techniques that have made their way into the work of former collaborators and students including Dario Fo, Ariane Mnouchkine, Yasmina Reza and Theatre de Complicite. The book contains a foreword by Simon McBurney, a critical introduction by Mark Evans and an afterword by Fay Lecoq, Director of the International Theatre School in Paris.

This is the first definitive history of African-American theatre. The text embraces a wide geography investigating companies from coast to coast as well as the anglophone Caribbean and African-American companies touring Europe, Australia, and Africa. This history represents a catholicity of styles - from African ritual born out of slavery to European forms, from amateur to professional. It covers nearly two and a half centuries of black performance and production with issues of gender, class, and race ever in attendance. The volume encompasses aspects of performance such as minstrel, vaudeville, cabaret acts, musicals and opera. Shows by white playwrights that used black casts, particularly in music and dance, are included, as are productions of western classics and a host of Shakespeare plays. The breadth and vitality of black theatre history, from the individual performance to large-scale company productions, from political nationalism to integration, is conveyed in this volume.