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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An Indie Next Pick for July 2017 "7 Best Books of July," Men's Journal "10 Titles to Pick Up Now," O, The Oprah Magazine "Most Anticipated Books of 2017," The Millions "A unique, poetic critical appreciation of Marcel Marceau.... A fascinating book.... Readers will marvel not only at Marceau, but at the book itself, which displays such command of the material and such perfect pitch." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review As a fledgling radio producer, Shawn Wen became fascinated by the one subject who seemed impossible to put on air: French mime Marcel Marceau, the internationally acclaimed "artist of silence." At the height of his fame, Marceau was synonymous with Bip, the red-lipped, white-faced mute in a sailor suit who conjured scenes, stories, and sweeping emotion through the gestures of his body alone. Influenced by Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, credited with inspiring Michael Jackson's Moonwalk, Marceau attempted in his performances to "reveal the fundamental essences of humanity." Beyond Bip, Marceau was a Jewish Holocaust survivor and member of the French resistance; a bombastic iconoclast; a collector of failed marriages, masks, antique knives and doting fans; an impassioned workaholic who performed into his eighties and died deeply in debt soon after leaving the stage. In precise, jewel-like scenes and vignettes, A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause pays homage to the singular genius of a mostly-forgotten art form. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and meticulously observed performances, Wen translates the gestural language of mime into a lyric written portrait by turns whimsical, melancholic, and haunting. Shawn Wen is a writer, radio producer, and multimedia artist. Her writing has appeared in The New Inquiry, The Seneca Review, The Iowa Review, The White Review, and the anthology City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis (Faber and Faber, 2015). Her radio work has been broadcast on This American Life, Freakonomics Radio, and Marketplace. She is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including the Ford Foundation Professional Journalism Training Fellowship and the Royce Fellowship.

'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.