"Silence is Golden" sang The Tremeloes back in the 60s, a sentiment with which the participants in the
2011 London International Mime Festival would no doubt agree.
The two-week festival, starting on the 15th of January, brings together the very best mime acts from around the world. Highly creative cutting-edge performances in a range of styles ensure an evening out a little different from your usual theatrical show.
To make it easier to choose what to see, the acts have been categorised into five main types:
1- performances incorporating puppetry/animation
2- performances using circus skills
3- performances for young children
4- performances for older children
5- performances recommending parental guidance
Click
here to find out which shows fall into which category.
Highlights include Compagnia 2
plus1 (category 2,3&4), from Switzerland, presenting the UK premiere of
La Porta, an exciting show with magic, circus skills and old-fashioned artistry, ideal for the entire family. The director of the show, Sergio Bini, co-starred with Roberto Benigni in the Oscar winning movie,
Life is Beautiful.
Josef Nadj and Akosh Szelevenyi come together to perform
Les Corbeaux (
The Crows) (category 1&5), incorporating movement, free-form jazz and a barrel load of black paint as they seek to interpret the spirit and mystery of this curious creature.
And for something a little different, check out Jos Houben's
The Art of Laughter. The one-time (26th Jan) show is part-performance part-talk, as Houben examines just what it is that gets people laughing. In a fascinating look at the art of physical comedy, Houben show informs as well as entertains.
Venues are spread across the capital, and include the Barbican, the Roundhouse and the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House.
It's only once a year that London brings together some of the world's top performers in contemporary visual theatre, so make the most of the opportunity!
