Mime

This lesson forms an introduction to the mime genre and the skills required for mime. It looks at mirror mime and passing the mime, and then leads students through a basic meeting sequence.

Objectives

• To develop a knowledge of mime.
• To use and develop mime in scenarios.

Starter

Ask students to walk around the room conveying the following:

• A walk through the park on a sunny day.
• A walk through the park on a rainy day.
• Rushing for a late appointment.

These should be silent exercises to concentrate on the physical.

How can you show the situation using only your body and your face? How do you react to those around you?

If there is time, you could use the following exercise to develop mime techniques further:

Circus: Mime exercise

Response

Set up a teacher-led discussion on the topic ‘What is mime?’. Establish that mime is the art of portraying characters and acting out a situation or a narrative by gestures and body movement, without the use of words. It can also mean to ridicule by imitation; mimic; and to portray characters and situations by gesture and body movement.

Development

Ask students to do the following two activities:

Mirror mime

Ask students to form pairs (A and B). They should conduct a mirror mime: A mimes an activity which B must copy. Remind the As to keep the movements simple, clear and slow so they can be copied easily.

Freeze frames of emotions

Ask the students to work individually. They should create freeze frames which represent different emotions, for example sadness, happiness, loneliness or anger. They should use their body and face, and should exaggerate their movements to the point of ridiculousness.

The two activities are designed to promote group work, so students are physically aware of other performers. Tie the activities together by asking students to form new pairs and create a basic meeting sequence where they meet their pair. The meeting could be bumping into someone they know well, or seeing someone they have not seen for ages, etc. They should exaggerate all their movements.

How can you show the audience how you feel? How do you use your body to show how you are feeling?

Plenary

Organise the class into a circle. Students should pass the mime, miming an everyday activity, eg washing, brushing teeth, etc, while saying one thing they have achieved this lesson. This activity enables the teacher to:

• see whether students understand mime
• ensure students give honest answers.

What did you do well today? What were you confident in doing?

Homework

Ask students to review the lesson by completing the following handout:

Circus: Diary