Mime and movement

Mime is one of the oldest forms of theatre. The word mime comes from the word Pantomimus, which was the name of a dancer who was popular in Imperial Rome. The origin of Pantomime dates back to the ancient Greece. In the beginning, a pantomime performer was called mummer in English. Mummer plays were derived from pantomime, and later dumbshows evolved in medieval Europe. Elizabethan Dumb Show, for example, consists of silent enactment and many Elizabethan playwrights used mimed sections within or around the acts. Mime helped to express the plays’ concept by visual representation.

Pantomime came to England in the 18th century from France as Italian Mimic Scenes and from the Italian commedia dell’arte. The English developed their form of mime based on fairy tales, children’s plays and songs. During the 20th century, there were a lot of creative artists who developed the mime that are popular in vaudeville, music halls and circus. In the second half of the 20th century, it stayed popular in concert halls, streets, circuses and the television. Today, using of imaginary props and sets has become popular among the mimes. The mime these days are purely silent art based solely through gesture, movement and expression. These days many dancers like Rudolf Laban incorporate mime in their dance work. We can also see its influence in ballet.
Other forms of theatre that have been influenced by mime are Indian kathakali, Native American performance, african festivals, commedia dell’arte, clown traditions and Balinese Masked comedies. Mime was highly popular in movies, especially in the olden days because of the restrictions of early motion pictures with minimal dialogue. The movie actors learnt the craft of mime in the theatre and brought it to movies. Charles Chaplin is the best documented mime in the history. There are different forms of mimes: illusionary mime, mimodramas and statuary mime.

Greek Play at Randolph

Elektra is the first Greek play I have watched and it was quite an experience for me. At first I had a little difficulty getting used to watching actors with masks on and not being able to see their facial expressions. To be honest, I think I would have liked it better if the actors didn’t have their masks on. Also, as it was performed out in the open, I had a hard time concentrating on the play and following the story. A few of times I would find myself looking at the trees in the background and people near the halls and suddenly realizing that I am supposed to be watching the play. Even though I was not able to concentrate well, I learned a lot about the different aspects of Greek theatre.

The Set

Talking about the aspects of theatre, I think it saves a lot of energy to have a performance in the open like the Greek play. The light and sound were great, but it would have been better if artificial source could be used. I think the director did a good job in presenting the different aspects of a Greek play and the actors used the performance space well. I learned from research that the origin of the word “theatre” is related to Greek plays. It made me feel that Greek plays must have had a very important place in the history of theatre. I also noticed that the original Greek plays were performed on a space similar to the dell. The picture on the left shows the original performance space for Greek plays with the names of the different parts of theatre. The pictures below are the ones taken at our school.

Although sound, lights and the set was great, I did not like the masks and the costumes very much. I think they could have been made more attractive. I learned from our class discussion that the masks actually help to increase the voice volume of the actors, but that it created difficulty in some dance moves. Masks can therefore be an obstruction. The fact that it was performed out in the open also created a lot of obstruction. There was no control over light and no equipments to control the sounds. If there were different lights and sounds like inside a theatre, it would help the audience follow the play, especially audiences like me who don’t have much experience in theatre.

All in all, I think the director and the actors did a good job in showing different aspects of Greek theatre. The audience applauded at the end of the performance, and even though it’s like a norm these days, the applause was loud and long, which showed that the audience must have enjoyed the performance. I think there are some areas like the costumes and the masks that can be improved on the next time.

Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte troupe in action

Commedia dell’arte (“Comedy of Art” or “Comedy of the profession”) is an improvisational theatre that came into being before 1550. The exact year of its origin is not known but it was very popular between 1550 and 1775. Several theories have been put forward to explain its origin. Commedia dell’arte introduced professional theatre in Italy and in Europe by having huge responsibility on the actors. Common themes of the performances were disgraceful love intrigues, jealousy and politics. Performance rather than the subject matter had more importance in Commedia dell’arte.

Theories have linked the origin of Commedia dell’arte to Atellan farce, Byzantine mimes and Plautus and Terence. Even though its origin is not clear, there is information about it after 1550. The productions usually had ten actors, and one of them would be a leader. The leader was responsible to explain the actors their lazzi, a piece of rehearsed comic action, and the outcome. It was actor’s responsibility to find the words and make expressions to make the laughter ring. These actors were disciplined and took pride in their achievements. They had to be talented, hardworking and dedicated to be a part of a production. Commedia dell’arte is known to introduce professionalism to theatre because the actors before them didn’t have to fulfill such high standards to be in a play. The performers always made use of well-rehearsed jokes and gags to satirize current events and local scandals.

The subject matter for Commedia dell’arte was diverse and evolved gradually with time. The character roles were divided into masters and servants. There were three types of masters- The Capitano, Pantalone, and Dattore, and different types of servants or zanni: Harlequin, Scaramuccia, Pulcinello and inamorata, the female maid. Different types of masks, costumes and props were used to distinguish between the different characters, but inamoratas didn’t wear any masks. The figure on bottom of the page and on the left show the costume and mask of The Capitano. The image on the below is the mask of Harlequin, the most famous servant.


Commedia dell’arte has a very important part in the history of theatre. It was originally from Italy but found it way through to many other countries, and became very popular. It has become less popular than in 1775, and a few people related to theatre are worried about its existence. I, however, think that since people look for diversity and value historical arts these days, it is not going to extinguish even though it might not be as popular as it was once before. It’s difficult to create dialogues on the spot and I think something like Commedia dell’arte will be a good learning practice for new artists.

The Capitano

Effective theatre

We discussed about different components of theatre in class, and they have to be balanced for theatre to be effective. An effective theatre would make an impact on the audience, and captivate them in the moment. It should make the theme of the performance clear, and should make an audience informed if that is one of its purposes. It takes months of hard work, planning and communication among designers to bring together a performance. However, as Professor Holmes said in class, it’s the moment it’s performed in front of an audience when it can be called theatre.

For a performance in front of the audience to be effective, the set, sound, light and costumes of the performers should be such that they directly reflect the concept of the play. Sally showed us some slides about how costumes and the set were made to look synchronized by having similar patterns. I loved those slides. They made me realize the importance of subtle things that the audience might not notice on the conscious level, but that have a huge role in ameliorating the performance. It goes for all the aspects of designing. Theatre can be complete with a few actors performing according to a script, but it is the different components that make it effective and impacting. In some cases though, good actors and an excellent script might be more than enough for an excellent theatre performance.

The different components can be used in different ways to highlight whatever the director thinks the audience should be focusing on in a play. If among ten characters on stage there is one particular person that the audience should be looking at, the costume should be such that it sets her apart from the rest of the performers and the light should focus on her. Also, the performer should be on a spot where she can be seen easily. Sound is another important component that can control the feel of the play. The different versions of Shining we saw in class clearly explained how change in sound can manipulate our emotions even when we are watching the same thing. Hence, the right forms of all these components make a performance stronger, but they can completely change the feel of a performance if used in a wrong way.

Effective theatre is when a performance affects the audience in the way it was planned to. It should be captivating and should take the message across, if there is any. The script and actors are the most important parts of theatre. The different components of design help in making theatre effective by directing the audience’s focus throughout the performance.
























There are some theatres that are heavily dependant on the script. Mr. Bean, for example, is very hilarious but there is not much sound or light effects. If the script of this video was performed on stage with a simple set it would still be hilarious. Even though sound, light, costumes and set are important aspects of theatre and can sometimes help a lot in improving theatre, they might not always be necessary if the script and the actors are very good.

Gurukul is a theatre close to where I lived back home. They have a small stage and they use simple props and equipments. It’s a theatre which is hugely dependant on the performers themselves. They don’t have microphones or special instruments, and there are no external equipments to supplement anything to do. Even the lighting is very simple. Gurukul is a very popular theatre in Nepal, and they have made excellent productions. I think Gurukul is a perfect example of a theatre which is not heavily dependant on external sources. They use all the components mentioned in the blog but very much. It’s the natural talent of the actors and their versatility that make the performances highly effective.