Product Description
Covers props, staging, make-up, rehearsal, performance-tested mime routines and sketches for two or more mimes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great teaching scenes for jr. high and high school
I teach a mime class.I needed scenes for my students to do.This hits the spot. This book has saved me time from creating my own stuff.

I am a mime
It is better to invent your own routines, there is no technique, no history of mime, not much of value.

mime time
This book is ok. It has alot of routines, but not much help on how to teach mime.

Learn by Doing
This is the mime book for someone who learns by seeing and doing. Through 45 detailed scripts, the future mime learns the vocabulary and scope of the art. From a child eating ice cream to a sports fan, the reader sees examples of mime in the mind's eye. There is almost no theory in this book,just good, practical scripts for one, two, or more actors. ... Read more

Product Description
For more than 40 6ears, Tony Montaro has been a celebrated mime, at the top of his field. And for the past 20 years, he has shared his insights and skills as a mentor to hundreds of performers. At last, here's Tony's book, a book for all performing artists - actors, musicians, dancers, poets...

To Tony Montanaro, mime is 'eloquent gesture,' with or without words, with or without props. His approach is more than an invaluable lesson in theatre; it's a lesson in communication. Knowing what you want to project, sensing what the audience sees, and developing the skill necessary to bring the two together with eloquence and personal style are the goals of 'Mime Spoken Here.'

CONTENTS: 1) Definition & History of Mime * 2) Warming Up * 3) Premise Work * 4) Isolation Exercises and Illusions * 5) Character Work * 6) Preparatory Exercises * 7) Improvisation * 8) Creating Sketches * 9) The Subtleties of Performing ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Inspiration Spoken Here
Mime Spoken Here is an absolutely wonderful book! It gave me a whole new appreciation and understanding of whatmime is and can be-showing a wondrous performing art that is masked by the cliched stereotypes one is constantly inundated with

I am actually a magician and about a year ago I had an idea for a magic pantomime using a mime illusion. A magician/mime recommended Kipnis' "The Mime Book." This is a really good book, and even though it really didn't directly address what I was looking for, I threw myself into the isolation exercises. However, even though it had lots of good work on the mechanics of the illusions, they never really interested me to work on them; except those that I could see applications to magic routines-basically the elevator and the cradle-to-grave.

I did however notice almost immediately an increased body awareness and sense of balance that I'd never had before. Even though I kind of drifted away as I got involved in doing shows, etc, I realized I'd learned more and made more progress in a couple of weeks than I had in several semesters of body movement classes in drama school. This new physical awareness and control generated a hunger for something... I don't know exactly what I was looking for, but I got other mime books... and "The Physical Comedy Handbook"... and Lecoq's "The Moving Body"... and Aubert's"The Art of Pantomime"...All these are good books, butstill I was looking... and then I found "Mime Spoken Here," and now I realize what I was looking for all along --physical eloquence.

"Physical eloquence" is Tony's conception of mime-greatly expanding it beyond the common no-talk, no-props view most people have of it. It is the perfect complement to "The Mime Book" because while Kipnis is much more exhaustive in the techniques ofmime, Mime Spoken Here teaches you how to breathe life and meaning into them, and any other performing art. (Karen gives a very telling, and touching, post-script as to how Tony's mime approach basically saved her ballet career.) In a sense I was familiar with much of what he talked about with premise, character work, and improvisations from acting classes and working on my theatrical form of magic, but in another sense Tony opened upnew doors of perception about them, particularly regarding mime. But more than anything, THE BOOK, TONY, AND KAREN ARE JUST DOWN RIGHT INSPIRING!

In the few days since I got the book-I practically devoured it-I have come up with three new sketches: Though one was a magical pantomime I'd created for afemale friendyears ago(She rejected it, and I never thought I could use it, but under Tony's spellI suddenly re-visualizedit in a way that would work for me), the other two were brand new mime pieces with no magic (gasp!). One started out just as an esoteric dance routine I came up with while playing around with a juggler's top hat, but I let it "get to me" (a Tonyism) and has now become basically a sketch of"Jeckyl & Hyde" meets "The Red Shoes." The third was one that came out ofthe cradle-to-grave exercise I'd worked on from Kipnis's book, which had a variationof a weight lifter beingbent backwards from the weight on his chest. Well in playing with that, from time to time I'd end up on my back with the weight pinning me down to the floor, and I couldn't get up. Well then I'd always just get up and stopthere, because there was no where to go with it since I obviously could not lift the weight up from that position. Then mid-way through reading the book, I was playing around and it happened again, but this time I "bought it" (another Tonyism,) and just lay there until I could figure a way out of my predicament. And I did and then the rest of the sketch just fell together, as if my magic. :O)

I'm also sure I'll get more and more out of the book with subsequent study, and in turnwill get more out of the other books now with Tony's thinking running in the background, especially "The Mime Book." Because while the illusions in it didn't inspire me to work on them, the day I read about "the eagle" illusion in "Mime Spoken Here" I was outside that night working on it--showing the power of premise applied to technique.

Furthermore, "Mime Spoken Here" also serves as an inspiring autobiography of a truly special performer, teacher, and man. (A friend of mine once said that Einstein's autobiography would be aphysics book.)

An exciting and valuable book...
...that probes deeper than the average "How To..." guide.

Tony and his wife Karen have crafted a book that is chock full of practical methods for the performing artist, but it also (and more crucially) explores the art ofcommunication, with sharp insights and anecdotes that are not onlyapplicable but nourishing for the soul.

Tony Montanaro (a brilliant andrenowned mine) also pays respectful homage to the masters who have precededhim, including his teachers Marcel Marceau andEtienne Decroux, as well asthe more obscure and virtually forgotten teachings of FrancoisDelsarte.

This book is a must-read for the performing artist who wishesto sharpen their "physical eloquence", as well as anyone with a seriousinterest in communication and artistic expression of any sort. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

If You Can't Go to San Fran Each of the Last 40 Years
The San Francisco Mime Troupe has been going now for about forty years. They must be doing something right. Or maybe left. More likely all over the place.

Their specialty is political satire. Political satire has to be topical or it looses it's whole sense of being. And once spoken, the show is over, it closes soon for the next incident to hit the press.

At last Professor Mason, has collected some of their finest work and put it together in this book along with some stories that set the pieces in their time. It's broken down by the decade and includes fourteen of their best pieces.

Unfortunately reading a play is much less satisfactory than hearing it actually performed on stage. But reading it is one hell of a lot better than having such work go away forever. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, published by Performing Arts and Entertainment in Canada on March 22, 1993. The length of the article is 1752 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: The Canadian troupe Theatre Beyond Words tours the world presenting enthralling play-length productions of mime, puppets, song and dance. Co-director Robin Patterson and actor Terry Judd talk about their current show, 'Night Train to Foggy Bottom.'

Citation Details
Title: Theatre Beyond Words - images to inspire. (mime theater company) (Interview)
Author: Karen Waterman
Publication: Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 1993
Publisher: Performing Arts and Entertainment in Canada
Volume: v28Issue: n1Page: p28(3)

Article Type: Interview

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Marcel Marceau's genius for the art of silence has astonished and delighted audiences of all ages for more than 50 years. Bip is Marceau's beloved alter ego, a hapless clown with unlimited curiosity and compassion. Since his debut in 1947, Bip has bravely explored every imaginable location, from a skating rink to a lion cage. But he has never been trapped inside the pages of a book... until now.In Bip in a Book, this richly evocative drama is reinterpreted for a new generation. Once again Marceau's famous innocent is trapped, but this time he is confined not by an imaginary cage, but by a page. Dressed in his signature striped pullover and battered opera hat, Bip is happily oblivious to his plight until he walks smack into the right edge of the page. As the reader turns the pages, Bip's imaginative exploration of this unexpected situation is told through 32 vivid photographs, each underscoring Marceau's outstanding gift of expression.Anyone who loves the theater will cherish these playful photographs of a modern master at work, but even readers who have never seen Bip will be drawn to the creativity and suspense of this one-of-a-kind story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Publishers Weekly(via Cahner Business Info Inc) Must Be Applauded
9/28/07The Viewing was great(pgs 1-35)(not one word is spoke via intro or narration or clues) until Page 37 ,as Bip begins to lose part of his hand in a lean toward the darkness..until then the dark pages to the right have no meaning or relevance ...on Pg 39 Bip looses the top of his body inclusive of arms up to where his vest buttons begin and on Pg 41 we see all of Bip again , standing in the white page pushing(but not touching) from the dark page with both hands, Pg 43 he realizes he no longer has his hat and from then on the story continues and ends happily on Pg 64...Publishers Weekly(via Cahner Business Info Inc copyright 2001 on the amazon book review page was invaluable to me since I didn't quite understand what was happening on Pg 37. PublishersWeekly explainedabout him being "sucked into the darkness".Bip in A Book loses some of the entertainment valuable of skilled mime Marcel Marceau's Bip's "live animation".

The sad farewell for the master of the art of silence !

With the recent death of Marcel Marceau, the world once more lost an important component of its artistic body. For him, the end came but for us,the world became much more narrowly noisy.

Marceau conferred the silence a similar and even major importance respect the word, due the imagination in every one of us was an invisible bridge that allowed him to convey us to a new universe where the vanished of the magic lantern and those times in which the silent cinema spelled to our grandparents.

I had the chance to watch him four times in Caracas, and I still remember a clever utterance in occasion of a brief interview, in which he said these wise words:" The most touching moments of our existence, leave us without words. It's very difficult for a mime to lie, because for lying, the words are necessary."

Wonderfully Written Work Without Words
It was really nifty how Marceau eventually breaks out of the book.The ending will have both you and your kid thinking about books in a new way.This is a classy production, with loving attention paid to layout, pacing, photography, and posture throughout.It's strange to talk about the wonderful writing in a book with absolutely no words, but it's true nonetheless!The story is captivating.The basic story line is easy enough to understand for young children (our 2.5 year-old loves it), but some of the more subtle interpretations will keep adults mulling over the book for a long time.And given how often your little will want to read the book, it's a good thing that it holds an adult's attention.

Kids Love This Book!
This is a wonderful book -- ingeniously conceived and flawlessly executed. I was surprised to find that my 9 year old daughter enjoyed the book as much as her younger sister. It's fun for young readers to figure out the story, and to imagine how the very tricky photography was done. Marcel Marceau continues to be an inspiring figure, graceful beyond his years. This book showcases his talent in a new, compelling, and personal way. It creates a fascinating world -- both inside and outside the box. ... Read more

Product Description
This book outlines in simple terms and illustrations how to safely create the illusions of unarmed stage violence. This book is intended for actors, directors, or stage managers who are new to stage violence, however experienced fight choreographers may find new techniques as well. This work aims to help prevent injuries related to stage fights. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A terrific, comprehensive guide to unarmed stage combat.
Simply put, "Combat Mime" is the best book on it's subject I have seen.While there are a number of books covering swordplay, Martinez (an experienced Fight Director) focuses entirely on unarmed stage combat and how to perform it safely and convincingly.Safety is stressed throughout, and everything is well illustrated with simple but clear line drawings.

The book covers a wide range of topics including punches, kicks, falls, slaps, hair pulling, and such extras as stage blood and sound effects for a breaking bone.The many ingenious ways Martinez presents for achieving the "knap," the all-important sound of impact that sells a fake hit, are invaluable.Without that sound, any stage fight looks phony, and Martinez illustrates several simple but very effective methods to avoid that pitfall.

Martinez stresses that stage combat is nothing like a real fight, but actually a partnership between the actors involved in which the supposed "victim" is always in control. This sound, safety-concious philosophy is reflected in the title, and in every illusion presented.Despite this "peaceful" underpinning, the methods Martinez describes can produce stage fights that are quite convincingly violent, as I discovered when I put them to the test in my own work as a Fight Director.

All in all, this is a highly recommended text for anyone interested in this stage craft. It's invaluable for any small theater company that has no fight director but wants to present convincing, dramatically powerful fights without putting their actors in the hospital. ... Read more

Product Description
This illustrated guide to the art of mime is useful as a primary text in mime, movement, and related courses, it is also very suitable for use at the high school level. ... Read more

Product Description
An illustrated, easy-to-follow guidebook for organising, programming and training a troupe of Christian mimes. As well as details on make-up, costumes, techniques and performance, there are also ideas for song and Scripture interpretations and many mime skits with a Christian message. ... Read more

Product Description
In the first collection of its kind, Timothy Murray brings together writing by leading French thinkers on the political effects of theatricality on theater, film, literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis. In addition to recently translated work by Cixous and Deleuze, the collection features English translations of essays by Althusser, Derrida, Durand, Fanon, Féral, Foucault, Girard, Green, Irigaray, Kristeva, Lacoue-Labarthe, Lyotard, and Marin.
Mimesis, Masochism, & Mime provides a welcome theoretical contribution to recent theories of performance and to the development of French cultural studies. Its emphasis on the politics of theatricality lends unprecedented focus to French theorizations of the body, gender, sight, screen, voice, territoriality, otherness, and diversity. In so doing, the volume provides an intellectual context and theoretical blueprint for future work in the cultural study of mimesis, masochism, and mime. The collection highlights the importance of theatricality to the theory and practice of aesthetics as well as to French debates over patriarchy, absolutism, and metaphysics. In turn, wide-ranging analyses provide a range of approaches to the politics of identity, feminism, marginality, and postcoloniality. Timothy Murray's introduction makes clear the theoretical context of the volume, and situates the book in relation to recent Anglo-American debates over realism, multiculturalism, and identity politics.
The contributors are especially helpful in linking varying political accounts of ideology, philosophy, and psychoanalysis to historical and contemporary work in performance, film, and video. Astute commentaries on Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Artaud are combined with fascinating analyses of more recent mixed-media performance, from the European stage (Duras, Théâtre du Soleil, Bene, and Strehler), to the site of North American performance (Snow, Mabou Mines, Wilson, and Rainer).
Mimesis, Masochism, & Mime provides a stunning account of the political importance of theatricality to contemporary French thought and will be welcomed by readers in French studies, theory, theater, cultural studies, film, women's studies, aesthetics, and psychoanalysis.
"The essays . . .are judiciously chosen, accurately justified, wide in range within the dispensation of post-structuralist thought--that is, they touch on everything from the question of origins to the libidinal economy of performance to post- Brechtian staging to the ineliminable shadow play of tragedy through its ideological demystification by schizoanalysis to feminism in the theater." --Herbert Blau, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Timothy Murray is Professor of English at Cornell University and former Editor of Theatre Journal. He is the author of Theatrical Legitimation: Allegories of Genius in Seventeenth-Century England and France and Like a Film: Ideological Fantasy on Screen, Camera, and Canvas.
... Read more

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Product Description
An introduction to mime and stage movement for the professional the student, and the aspiring amateur in theatre or dance. ... Read more

Product Description
Essays introduce mime as an expressive and recreational activity and instructions are given for many exercises and gestures of this silently communicative art form. ... Read more