Talk of the Town: The London International Mime Festival
An international contemporary visual theatre festival will take place across London in January 2020.
The London International Mime Festival is back for it’s 44th year presenting a variety of theatre performances including dance, acrobatics, music and puppetry.
The festival was founded in 1977 by producer, Joseph Seelig, with internationally famed mime-clown, Nola Rae.
He was joined by Helen Lannaghan as co-director in 1986 to form the capital’s longest established international theatre season.
Taking place each January, its programme spans the spectrum of contemporary visual performance including live art, physical and circus-theatre, mask, puppetry, movement and object theatre.
This year, there’s a triple-bill of silent movie classics with live jazz accompaniment, and an hilarious and deeply moving homage to the life of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.
A highlight at the Southbank Centre is The PappyShow presented by dance troupe BOYS who bring an unscripted performance celebrating male tenderness, silliness, vulnerability and community.
At the Barbican, an immersive pop-up book or graphic novel will come to life.
Rooman is a rich tapestry of puppetry, projection, animation, dance, music and sound performed by Australian company Fleur Elise Noble.
And at Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Trygve Wakenshaw, raises a finger, as well as most other limbs, to the rulebooks and the people that write them skewering the rule makers, the enforcers, the abiders, and screams “wake up sheeple!” as it politely waits for the traffic lights to change.
On the banks of the Thames at the Puppet Theatre Barge there will be a puppet performance of The Water Babies.
With specially commissioned music, beautiful, long-string marionettes and ghostly shadows, this new production inspired by Charles Kingsley’s famous novel explores themes of loss, friendship and transformation.
Over the month of January there will be more than 20 events across the city to enjoy.
For more information on dates and venues you can visit the London International Mime Festival website.