The Art Of Mime And Pantomime

History of Mime and Pantomime

Mime was a Greco-Roman drama art, where scenes from real life were depicted in an exaggerated and ridiculous manner. Today, mime and pantomime have come to mean the art of portraying a character or telling a story using body movements, symbolic gestures and facial expressions.

The earliest of the Greek and the Roman forms of the mime were a farce that emphasized mimetic action. They also included dialogues and songs. Information on mime as a drama form, before it began to be accepted as a literary form, is very scanty.

In Italy, the presentation of mimes was a traditional feature at the annual Floralia festival. The first person to give literary form to the Roman form of the mime was Decimus Laberius, during the first century BC. He was outdone by Publilius Syrus. It is said that during the Roman Empire, the mime was used as a platform to execute convicted criminals. Taking advantage of the element of realism, real convicted criminals were made to substitute for the actors and real executions of the criminals were carried out. This shocked many Christian writers and they made no secret of it. Gradually, stock characters and situations of the classical mime found their way into the comic drama of the dramatist, Plautus and they reappeared in their versions in a form of Renaissance extempore entertainment, known as commedia dell’arte, which had its roots in the Roman theatre.

The difference between mime and pantomime There were basically two differences between the Roman mime and pantomime. Firstly, the themes of the pantomimes were heavier and loftier and, secondly, pantomime actors wore masks. The mask effectively limited an actor’s expressions. He could not speak dialogues or make use of facial expressions and had to depend on hand movements. The actors were usually dressed in a cloak and long tunic and generally performed solo, with music as an accompaniment. But the music was considered more a prop than anything else. The skill of the actor was valued the most. A successful pantomime actor often enjoyed the patronage of the royalty. Emperor Nero was a patron of the pantomime art

Mime and pantomime in Asian countries
Long before the mime and pantomime was recognized as an art form in the West, the art form existed in many parts of Asia. In India, there are ancient treatises that make reference to similar drama forms. The bharatanatya is said to have arisen out of one such drama form. The art form is still said to be in existence in some parts of the country, especially West Bengal. In the theatre of China and Japan too, the mime became an integral part of major dramatic genres.

this si not cinderella, its  mime in bangladesh

Cinderella in pantomime
The origin of the English pantomime has been traced back to an art form known as the harlequinade. During the Victorian age, the themes for the pantomimes shifted to fairy tales. The pantomime shows were interlaced with jugglery or acrobatics, in order that they became wholesome entertainment for children. Some of the popular twentieth century pantomimes were Cinderella, Aladdin, Robinson Crusoe, Mother Goose and Blue Beard.