Marceau, Great Mime, To Give Three Shows

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30079, 13 March 1963, Page 11

Marceau, Great Mime, To Give Three Shows

One of the greatest exponents of mime, Marcel Marceau. will give performances ta the Civic Theatre on March 22 and 23. There will be a matinee on Saturday afternoon.

In a show that Lasts about two hours, without speaking a word, Marceau mimics a large number of persons and expresses a tremendous range of emotions. “Ttae,” in a review ot his performance in New York during a recent tour of the United States, describes two of his characters thus: "Mimicking a dynamiter, he blows himself up at precisely the moment when he to admiring his technical know-how. As a party-goer, he pirouettes through all the social graces, only to get stupidly, staggeringly drunk.” Some of the programme

will be taken up with a portrayal of Marceau’s character, Bip, a kind of modern pierrot, who battles with the problems of twentieth century existence. Of this character Marceau writes: “In 1947 Bip was born. Bip with his white

face, his striped pullover, his tight trousers and his battered hat topped with a trembling flower. Bip, whether as a butterfly hunter, lion-tamer, skater, professor of botany or guest at a social party, the silent witness of the lives of all men, struggling against one handicap or another, with their joys and sorrows as daily companions.” In his early life, Marceau studied enamelling and later became a drama coach. After serving with the French army of occupation in Germany he joined the Madelein Renaud, Jean Louis Barrault Company where one of his chief roles was of Harlequin in “Baptiste.” He formed his own company devoted to the revival of mime in 1947.

The early Charlie Chaplin films have influenced his style most, and he sees Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Danny Kaye and the Marx Brothers as successors to the Italian Arlecchino, the English Punch, and the French Pierrot.