MimeLondon

MIME & PHYSICAL EXPRESSION
2-DAY WORKSHOP WITH PETA LILY
SAT 24 & SUN 25 August 2024 10am - 5pm

EARLY BIRD PRICE (£50 off) UNTIL FRI AUGUST 9TH!

A course for actors, clowns, storytellers, theatre makers, improvisers, singers and stand-ups ... anyone who wants to add more physical detail & dimension to their work.

Peta Lily worked with Lecoq and Gaulier but also studied dance, mime, corporeal mime, Commedia dell’Arte, Chi Gung and Butoh - all of which she has melded into one coherent, transformational practice. Lily was originally an actor and also studied directing with Mike Alfreds’ author of Different Every Night. She teaches at RADA and RCSSD.

‘Loved the work and exploration. My body feels looser and so does my mind! Also made me free-er emotionally.’

‘I found your insights into different parts of the body and the centres fascinating and nothing any other physical theatre teacher has gone into so satisfactorily.'

Why study mime?
Having mime skills gives the actor physical finesse and quality plus greater ability to create truthful but effective moments onstage reliably, and to create reality with more specificity, nuance and atmosphere.

As with poetry, mask-work and puppetry, well-performed mime has the power to capture audience’s imaginations and be unexpectedly moving.

Mime skills give the performer added skill in improvisation and added confidence in performance.

The work is useful for both comedy and drama - the course will include:
- a wonderfully clear language of articulation in the body (basic Decroux technique).
- useful illusionary mime techniques (opening doors, using mimed objects - but in a way that incorporates emotion and atmosphere)
- the more organic, dynamic technique, 'mime corporeal' work of Theatre du Mouvement – useful for shared dynamics and emotional representation and access... plus!
- the immersive, transformational practice of Butoh (bring more of you into play, access more qualities, textures and playing styles)
- Lily’s own work on the Emotion Zones to extend your range of emotional expression, giving you more confidence and more choices
- Emotion Zones work includes vocal expression to generate an embodied sound
- using the space and energy for added impact and meaning
- mini improvisations to use the skills in action
And more!

‘Peta’s endless experience of all things clown and Commedia Dell’Arte , plus her fountain of knowledge on all things theatre makes her a consummate teacher’

‘Rich and in depth … techniques are well-explained and suggestions are worded well … enjoyable and incredibly helpful! Passion, positivity, energy, and craft!’

Bring a nursery rhyme and a short speech (more information on booking).

WHEN:
Saturday 24th August 10am - 5pm
Sunday 25th August 10am - 5pm

WHERE:
BOLD
21 St George's Rd, Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6ES

COST:
£199 - OR pay by 9th August and save £50 -
Early Bird Price just £149

APPLY OR ASK A QUESTION
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSesTawJFHs3TcblciKuGd0zjRE2zv9C4TD-1wsTrIITOYBX5g/viewform

Extra information: If you have seen the wonderful film ‘Les Enfants du Paradis’, you will have glimpsed the ‘Father of Modern Mime’: Etienne Decroux. Decroux taught leading actor Jean-Louis Barrault who gives a wonderfully expressive mimetic performance as Pierrot in the film. Decroux also taught Marcel Marceau, and Peta Lily’s teacher Desmond Jones. In the 1980’s Lily co-founded Britain’s first all-female mime troupe who toured widely and subverted the classic form to approach new subjects and diversify the form with dance, props, masks, new subjects, costumes and text. She went on to study with Theatre du Mouvement with their more organic and dynamic approach to mime corporel.

YOANN BOURGEOIS ART COMPANY will be bringing its piece, Touch, to Greenwich+Docklands Festival on Saturday 7 September
Performances are at 1 pm, 3.30 pm & 5.45 pm
12 Endeavour Square, Statford Cross, E20 1HZ
Duration: 8 Minutes

Widely known for viral live performance videos and recent collaborations with Harry Styles, Missy Elliott and P!nk, YOANN BOURGEOIS, brings his signature blend of gravity-defying performance, hypnotic movement and awe-inspiring trampolining to Dancing City.

You might also remember the company from it's Olivier Award nominated show Celui Qui Tombe (He Who Falls), which came to the Barbican as part of the 2016 Mime Festival.

Performed to Daft Punk’s disco anthem Touch and using the legendary voice of Paul Williams, this extraordinary performance will take place in Stratford Cross against the iconic backdrop of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Here's another of his sublime pieces for you to enjoy

Clair de lune (Debussy): Alexandre Tharaud, Yoann Bourgeois - piano & dance Listen to more music by Claude Debussy: https://meet.lnk.to/DebussyListen to more by pianist Alexandre Tharaud: https://meet.lnk.to/tharaudClair de lune - C...

Very sad to hear the news that Desmond Jones has died.

Desmond was an actor who came into the theatre via the Cambridge Footlights. He was given the first ever Arts Council grant to study mime, spending two years in Paris with Etienne Decroux, teacher of Marceau and Barrault.

Back in England he resumed his acting career but he also began to explore and expand his knowledge and technique in mime, founding the Desmond Jones School of Mime in 1979.

As a leading authority of the art of mime and analysis of movement, he lectured and performed widely.

As an actor he performed regularly on television, mostly comedy, and made several films including Romance with a Double Bass with John Cleese, and Jabberwocky. He was also movement director/adviser on several feature films.

He performed in early editions of the London International Mime Festival, including the very first festival in 1977.

RIP Desmond 🖤

MLADEN MATERIC 1953 - 2024

We were sad to hear of the death in June of our friend Mladen Materic, one of the great names of European physical theatre.

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia where he founded Tattoo Theatre in 1984, Mladen moved to Toulouse in France in 1992, forming a close association with the city’s Théâtre Garonne. He created almost all his subsequent productions there including La Cuisine, which featured at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2002. He directed Mundo Paralelo for Wales’ NoFit State Circus, programmed as part of the 2012 London International Mime Festival.

Mladen Mlateric’s text-free shows blended gritty realism with flights of fancy. He was an original thinker, an innovative director and a wise and generous teacher who thoroughly merits his place in the pantheon of great visual and physical theatre makers.

It was seeing one of Mladen’s shows at Théâtre Garonne in 1995 that inspired one of the Mime Festival’s most admired artists, Aurélien Bory, to create his own company, Compagnie 111. By remarkable coincidence, Aurélien was appointed Director of Théâtre Garonne earlier this year.

FIRST SHOW ANNOUNCED FOR 2025!
Compagnie Focus & Chaliwaté
DIMANCHE

Compagnie Focus & Chaliwaté's DIMANCHE will be coming to Sadler's Wells' Peacock Theatre in Holborn, from Wed 29 Jan - Sat 1 Feb. Tickets go on general sale on Friday 5 July, so please make a note on your calendar!

In their small home in the city centre, a family is trying to enjoy its traditional Sunday gathering. But strong winds and torrential rain rage outside, the walls are shaking, and the storm has only just begun. Indoors the temperature is rising and furniture starts to melt. Amidst climatic chaos they attempt to maintain normal domestic routine with hilarious determination.

Meanwhile, a TV news crew bumps along in its van through a picture-book snowy landscape somewhere in the Arctic Circle, eager to film the last three living species there, wild animals on the brink of extinction.

Collective insanity and blindness to the bleeding obvious is a rich subject for bittersweet physical comedy. Between dreamlike fiction and factual reality, Dimanche uses lo-fi FX, miniature vehicles, puppetry, video, and superb visual gags, to paint a witty, tender portrait of humanity surprised by the uncontrollable forces of nature.

https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/compagnie-focus-and-chaliwate-dimanche/

Congratulations to Stereoptik for receiving not one, but two Offie nominations for production and design for Antechamber, co-presented at the Barbican Pit in January 2024. If you saw the show please do leave a comment on the Offie's nomination pages

https://offies.london/antechamber-stereoptik-barbican-pit-offies-2024-newnoms-idea-design/

https://offies.london/antechamber-stereoptik-barbican-offies-2024-extra-newnoms-idea-production/

Antechamber – Stereoptik – Barbican #Offies 2024 EXTRA #NewNoms: IDEA Production - The Offies

Huge congratulations to Alexander Vantournhout for winning the Vlaamse Culture Prize for his body of work

De Ultima voor Podiumkunsten gaat naar Alexander Vantournhout! 🎭

Precies 10 jaar geleden kon de wereld voor het eerst kennismaken met het werk van deze choreograaf en lichaamskunstenaar. In zijn solo Caprices bracht hij een ongeëvenaarde bewegingstaal tot leven, die flirt met de grens tussen acrobatie en dans. Met zijn unieke creativiteit en grensverleggende visie verrijkt Alexander Vantournhout de podiumkunsten en blijft hij ons verbazen.

Foto: © Evi Ramaekers

Thanks for sharing this, David Gaines ❤️

CDK - Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know by We had such an incredible experience working on this piece and we’re so excited to finally share this with you al...

On Tuesday 13 February, Basil Twist and Phelim McDermott chatted to Cheryl Henson about Puppets in Theatre - here's a voice recording of that chat (missing the very beginning):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/n29xszwvsbophnqfj70ah/Puppetry-in-Theatre-Barbican-Members-Talk-13-Feb-2024.mp3?rlkey=yo2iz057u4rj3992qtk72rbh2&dl=0

4**** 'Curiously moving, always intriguing, and showcasing the exceptional skill of a couple of creatives just using their imagination and bits of equipment they have adapted, This & That deserved its warm applause.'

Final performances Fri 7.45pm (returns only), Sat 2.30pm & 7.45pm at the Barbican Pit.
https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/mimelondon-this-that

https://loureviews.blog/2024/02/16/theatre-review-this-that-mime-london-barbican/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=socialnetwork

Theatre review: This & That (Mime London, Barbican) - LouReviews LouReviews is a website which reviews, promotes and supports the arts - London theatre, films, books and digital theatre/TV

'The performance is as playful as its title, jumping between disciplines and atmospheres, but anchored by live generative abstract animation and spell-binding shadow puppetry.'

Barbican Centre until Saturday. A few seats left for Thursday and Saturday night (returns only for Fri night & Sat matinee) https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/event/mimelondon-this-that
https://www.thereviewshub.com/this-that-mimelondon-barbican-london/

Phil Soltanoff/Steven Wendt/Cie 111: This & That | Barbican Meet cowboys, pianists, disco-dancers and more in this playful shadow puppetry performance about the universe and everybody in it from an award-winning duo that will fill you with wonder.

'A truly original concept with brilliant stagecraft creating a heartwarming experience for anyone who has the privilege of watching.' Voicemag

https://www.voicemag.uk/review/13334/entranas-insides-at-the-Barbican Centre

Entrañas (Insides) at the Barbican Izaskun Fernández and Julián Sáenz-López are an enchanting duo as they take us on a journey to try to understand what a human body is.

5***** for El Patio Teatro's Entrañas
'The theatrical elements take Entrañas beyond what could be a whimsical lecture. The precise motions as the pair move around the small set are a joy to watch and are matched by the seductive Spanish storytelling' Broadway World

Review: ENTRAÑAS, The Barbican Centre Performed for the first time outside Spain, El Patio Teatro’s Entrañas asks two simple questions: what does it mean to be a human, and what does it mean to be human? The deceptively simple title roughly translates as “Insides” and obfuscates the intellectual and emotional breadth and depth of...

OffWestEnd / Offies / OffComm / OnFest / OneOff


2024 for “Ambergris” from Les Antliaclastes

at the Barbican Pit

: IDEA DESIGN – congratulations! 🎉 Congratulate them by adding a comment on our website: 2024 for “Ambergris” from Les Antliaclastes http://dlvr.it/T29yjG

https://x.com/offwestendcom/status/1753092875372683520?s=46&t=aFh0oSPnJBBkt4d8p70_ew

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/feb/01/ockhams-razor-tess-review-circus-thomas-hardy-peacock-theatre

Ockham’s Razor: Tess review – circus spin finds light and laughter in Thomas Hardy’s tale This company’s skills cleverly animate the characters in a dreamlike production that does not blunt the novel’s tragedy

‘Antechamber is like nothing else one may see on stage. Just a month into 2024, it is hard to imagine anything else this year could even come close’.

Antechamber – MimeLondon, Barbican, London - The Reviews Hub Writers and Directors: Jean-Baptiste Maillet and Romain Bermond These days, mainstream animation relies heavily on computer graphics, even when those graphics attempt to emulate more traditional painted styles. But there’s something distinctive and special about simpler animations that use paper c...

5***** for Ad Infinitum’s Last Rites

‘A triumph. A gorgeous display of humanity which cyclically warms and breaks your heart, this production is as real, raw and beautiful it gets’

https://shoreditchtownhall.com/whats-on/last-rites

'The fabulous MimeLondon celebrates non-verbal performance, showcasing exciting ways in which we as human beings can interact with and understand our world differently. Its opening piece this season is an extraordinary work from French/American company Les Antliaclastes that is visually stunning, quirkily humorous and enormously intriguing.'

Review: Ambergris, Barbican Centre - Everything Theatre A uniquely breathtaking, grotesque and perplexing tale of transformation from foulness to fabulousness.

LES ANTLIACLASTES Ambergris review
**** Donald Hutera in The Times

'a cunning and comic concoction by the French puppet theatre company Les Antliaclastes.

The magical setting is a tall, multilevel and multipurpose cross between a pipe organ and a laboratory featuring sliding panels, deep recesses, trap doors and even a small rail track. Much of the action occurs in the beautifully realised, cavern-like belly of a whale. Highlights centre cutely, not crudely, on bodily functions: Pinocchio naughtily spraying us with his urine, and a whale straining on a miniature toilet to evacuate its precious ambergris. There are also cameo appearances by a chatty pair of mermaids and a fussy, human-sized perfumer whose head is a giant nose. Bizarre? Yes, but beguiling too.'

Ambergris review — MimeLondon’s witty take on Pinocchio Ambergris, a cunning and comic concoction by the French puppet theatre company Les Antliaclastes, and brings unexpected delights, writes Donald Hutera