Institute of Mime
Dancing Times, London, April 1935
The performance described in this review was given by the Institute of Mime, with the theme of mime in different times and different countries
Cast members seem to have been mainly connected to Ginner-Mawer, but also included students of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and also the Central School.
Irene Mawer performed two solos which were “…perfect examples of mime, where each gesture was symbolised into a form which was aesthetically satisfying.”
I would have like to have known who wrote the article and what their view of mime was. The person writes about the traditional mime technique of Italy, stating that it is a complete art in itself. However, they continue with the cautionary note that things can fall apart without a rigid technique to control the literary or dramatic significance of the action.
Mime, so the reviewer tells us, can be accompanied by words – either spoken or sung. In this case, the reviewer states that the words would be off-stage, as in the example of Alice Chamier and Barbara Lewis who mimed to the singing of Bruce Lockhart.
I have noticed, in general, that there is a strong theme of speech training in Scotland and it is mentioned again in this article. Peggy Butler produced a sketch called Tamlin with the students of the Edinburgh School of Speech Training. This was performed to the words of Christian McNab, who spoke in old Scots. I am assuming this was mimed. The item went well, except for some weak characterisation of the fairies.
Early in 2025 I will be publishing my book about Irene Mawer. I will be selling it from the Kickstarter platform, so please do have a look at their site if you are not familiar with it (I will attach a link.) It’s not a scam and it’s not a begging site, it is a way to allow people to pre-order my book so that I can be sure to cover some of my costs by knowing that I will definitely have some interest in it (fingers crossed!) This particular link will take you through to the dance (UK) pages, but there are worldwide options for all of the arts: https://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/dance
