THE MASK

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What is mime??

History of mime…Mime is considered one of the earliest mediums of self-expression. From the very early beginnings of primitive man before speech, cave men mimed the actions and movements of the world around them. Gestures were developed and by body posture that developed into the most simplest forms of communication. This most fundamental way of learning is still the basis of how babies discover their world today, through imitation. Instead of fading into nothing when the spoken language was developed, mime had became a form of entertainment. It then developed into a true theatrical form in ancient Greece, where performers enacted everyday scenes with the help of elaborate gestures.

Ancient Greeks & Roman…It all began in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Greece. Ancient

Greek Masked actors performed mime outdoors, in daylight at festivals everyday in honour of Dionysus, the God of theatre. They usually performed of dramatic character-centred mimes called ‘hypotheses’ in front of thousands of people in the theatre.The comedy and tragedy, developed in Athens, have influenced nearly all Western drama, starting with that of the Romans. When the Romans conquered Greece, they brought Greek art of mime back to Italy and set about making it their own. The Roman soon took over the existing theatres in Greece and began rebuilding them for their own spectacles, which included everything from pantomime to mock- naval battles. The remains of the Theatre of Dionysus which we can see in Athens today date to Roman times and not the fifth century BC.

Ancient Greek theatre

Ancient Greek theatre such as Theatre of Dionysus in Athens has a different structure to theatres today. The core of any Greek theatre is the orchestra and behind it is the main stage where the actors perform whereas modern theatres the stage is at the front and the orchestra is at the bottom and not visible.

Commedia dell’ arte

Mime continued to entertain through the Middle Ages, in sixteenth century Italy, in the form of Commedia dell‘ Arte.

Commedia dell‘ Arte originated in the market places of the Italian streets in the early 1500's. Street performers began donning masks with exaggerated comical features to draw attention to themselves.

Marcel Marceau

Marcel MarceauMarcel Marceau was born in Strasbourg, France (22nd March 1923 – 22nd September 2007). Marceau's interest in the art of mime began at an early age when he would imitate with gestures anything that fired his imagination.

Later he discovered such silent screen artists as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harry Langdon, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and his admiration for these great actors inspired him to pursue the art of silence as a profession.

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie ChaplinUniversally acclaimed as the world's greatest silent comedy actor, Charlie Chaplin was born 16th April 1889 but died on the 25th December 1977. He was best known for his character, the naïve but lovable tramp. His character costume is a suit with the trousers that is too big for him and the waist coat too small and he carries a cane around with him. Chaplin was born in England and them toured in America and stayed there filming in the early 19th century television was really basic. As it was difficult to make things funny on T.V. back then, Charlie used bold, wired movement and exaggerated emotions so people understand and recognised what he was feeling.

Factors…That effect mime

Social factors

People perform and entertain to become famous and to entertain everyone whereas before for example in the Greeks times they performed to have fun. Mime has become part of cultural identity of some regions like France and are main feature in many festivals.

Technological Factors

Technology has had a big impact on mime. In the olden times, before technology was invented, performers performed outdoors in the daylight because there was no lighting like today. Also the theatre in the Greek times, was built in a way that the audience will be able to hear the show whereas now they have microphone to project their voice and we have lightings so we could perform indoors and late at night hours.

Historical factors

Today, performance are based on anything from very childish shows, to very serious shows. In the historical times example Tudor England, acting and drama was very popular because Queen Elizabeth loved watching plays therefore there was competitions between troupes to see who came up with the better performances for the queen.

Economic factors

Today when performing, performers are likely to receive money and fame. Back in the very olden days performing was about entertainment and in the Greeks they performed in honour of Dionysus, God of Theatre.

Thank you

RAUF P UMMER

THE MASK for mime

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