Marcel Marceau the world's most famous mime atrist explains how he developed the art of silent acting.
French mime artist Marcel Marceau is in Dublin for a performance at the Olympia Theatre. As a child he loved the work of performers from the screen Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, whom he describes as children at heart. His earliest experience of creating mime was when playing with other children in the street. At his aunt's holiday camp for children, he formed his first pantomime group and theatre became part of his life.
We imitated butterflies. We were Robinson Crusoe. We were the heroes. We played fairy tales.
At the age of 20, he decided to become a professional mime artist. He had no idea then that he would end up resurrecting the ancient art of mime. Established his own Compagnie de Mime Marcel Marceau. He travelled the world with his character Mr Bip. Mr Bip had the traditional white face of the Pierrot clown but with a very different costume featuring a top hat with a red flower.
Photo by Thomas Holton.
His material is inspired by observations of life, which his audience can identify with. He creates what he calls, style pantomimes, which make the impossible possible. In silent acting, mime has to move in the air like a fish in water.
We reveal ourselves through sign language, symbols, dreams, reality.
There are currently three Irish students attending his school 'Ecole Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris Marcel Marceau'. The Irish students include Conal Kearney, Vincent O'Neill, and Jonathan Lambert, son of the famous Irish puppeteer Eugene Lambert.
Marcel Marceau says the character of Bip is a reflection of man.
A mortal figure, representing the little man, the man in the street or the man in our dreams.
This episode of Summerhouse was broadcast on 12 August 1980. The reporter is Áine O'Connor.
'Summerhouse' was a summer magazine programme with a very wide brief, from arts and entertainment to investigative reports. The first series was presented by Áine O'Connor and Liam Nolan. Vincent Hanley became áine O'Connor's co-presenter for the second and third series. It was first broadcast on 13 June 1979 and ran for three series in the summer, until 19 August 1981.
