The London International Mime Festival opens this week, showcasing 15 unique roller coaster-type performances.
Swiss duo Zimmerman and de Perrot's ‘Oper Opis’ show combines dance, visual art and music with some of Europe's top young circus artists and dancers.
[Dimitri de Perrot, Mime Artist]:
"...making life a little bit more relative, even if it's hard, that's what we want to show, that's where we like to meet the public. Together we can laugh about ourselves. Everybody should be able to laugh about himself. That's also what we want to give."
The action takes place on an unstable stage that tilts in response to the protagonists’ movements. And so becomes a metaphor for the uncertainty of life.
[Dimitri de Perrot, Mime Artist]:
"The artists we cast for this show are people using the ground floor. They need the ground floor and that's what we took away so they have lost every relation of what they really need to live, to do what they do. And that's what interested us because it means they have to reinvent their life."
The festival will also feature the world premiere of "The Mill" by British award winners Ockham's Razor company. The show revolves inside and around a wheel of wood and steel, suspended seven meters in the air. "The Mill" is directed by Toby Sedgwick who is the founding member of the 1980's cult group Moving Picture Mime Show.
The London International Mime Festival runs until the end of the month.
