Mime Begins Where Words End

Mime is one of the oldest forms of World Theater. The dramatic and exaggerated art of representing the day to day activities of a man, through expressing them with body and facial movements is called Mime. It is similar to the dialogue dramas but in Mime, a story is narrated through body movements and facial expressions.

I have studied many articles on Mime but still I am not sure about the origin or evolution of Mime. I think it might have evolved from the time when Man began to communicate. Its obvious that he was not knowing any language but had to communicate with body movements and facial expressions. As the time passed he started to use sign boards which led to the origin of Painting, drawing etc. History says that the Mime started in Rome. When a playwright did not had any words to fill the character he used to fill them with the body movements and expressions. You don't find any exact proof which proves the origin or evolution of Mime. It is still a myth.

Let me share my experience with Mime. I am an amateur theater artist. I am practicing Mime from past 6 years. Our troupe is known as G.P.I.E.R. Theater Group, and Mr Mime Ramesh is a Director of our Amateur troupe. He is an actor in Rangayana Myosre, and because of his excellence in Mime, he got the prefix Mime for his name. Now Mime goes along with him with his name.

Gesture, Posture, Imagination, Expression and Rhythm are the 5 basic elements essential to perform Mime. I have done hundreds of Mime shows till date. Mime is performed for 5 to 10 minutes as it requires high energy and stamina. But our troupe has the credit of performing Mime for more than 100 minutes non-stop that too for 7 times and I have the credit of performing 3 times out of 7 major Mime shows. In my last Mime show i was on stage for about 90 minutes which is very hard, I was totally exhausted after the show. I was honoured when our troupe was invited to perform Mime for the occasion of 50th anniversary of UGC.

Our troupe is the only one of its kind in Mysore and may be in Karnataka which is still active in Mime. Mime requires high energy, immense stamina and body flexibility. It requires too much of practice for the sake of synchronisation. Background music plays a very major role in Mime. It emphasises the mood of the story. Music acts as a narration and we act according to it.

Mime is a wonderful theater art medium which is now in danger, not many are aware of this fantastic medium. My intention of writing this article is to brief about Mime and about our troupe. As there is a saying "Action Speaks Louder Than Words.