The Mime Quiz

History and Formats of Mime

• Mime is a form of theatrical medium or performance art that involves acting out a story through body gestures without the use of speech.
• The practice of mime has been included in the Inventory of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in France since 2017.
• Mime has been performed since ancient times, with the first recorded mime being Telestēs in the play Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus in Ancient Greece.
• The performance of mime in Rome was an aspect of Roman theatre from its earliest times, paralleling the Atellan farce in its improvisation.
• Early forms of mime such as mummer plays and later dumbshows evolved in Medieval Europe.
• Classical Indian musical theatre, the Japanese Noh tradition, and Butoh are analogous to mime in the theatrical traditions of other civilizations.
• Silent film comedians like Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton had a profound influence on mimes working in live theatre decades after their deaths.
• Mime has been performed on stage, with Marcel Marceau and his character "Bip" being the most famous.
• Mime is also a popular art form in street theatre and busking.
• Contemporary mimes sometimes employ vocal sounds in their performances while refraining from speaking.
• The Last Butterfly, a novel by Canadian author Michael Jacot, tells the story of a mime artist in Nazi-occupied Europe.
• Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll's The Clown relates the downfall of a mime artist, Hans Schneir, who has descended into poverty and drunkenness after being abandoned by his beloved.