Tag: London International Mime Festival
If I weren’t in Costa Rica right now I’d be seriously wishing I were in London. Even if you’ve never been and might never go, it’s good to know that the London International Mime Festival is now entering its 40th year. Since its inception in 1977, the festival has gone way beyond mime to encompass circus, clown, physical theatre, mask work, puppetry, and more. In the process, it has not only popularized a lot of deserving movement-oriented work, but has opened eyes outside the already converted. As the NY Times comments this week, “over four decades it has had a significant impact on British theater, disrupting the dominance of scripted plays —something that hasn’t quite happened the same way in the United States.”
It’s that time of the year again when I wish I were in London instead of New York. The reason of course is the 37th edition of the London International Mime Festival, which runs January 10–27. Calling it a mime festival is less accurate than its subtitle of “contemporary visual theatre.” Maybe it was more mime-y back in 1977, but these days it’s a rousing mixture of puppetry, nouveau cirque, clowning, dance, mime, juggling and everything in-between. Especially in-between.
I live in New York and have this thing called a job, otherwise the London International Mime Festival would be a good excuse to visit The Big Smoke for nineteen days this January (as if I needed an excuse). If you’re closer to London and less tied down, you’d be crazy to miss it.
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Workshops & Other Events
My first book (1976)
My book Clowns has long been out of print, but you can borrow it for two weeks at a time from the Internet Archive. More information is available here.
My second book (2015)
Visual and verbal humor for the cognitively and artistically curious! Available here.
“A book to treasure!”
—Bill Irwin