Communication junior Robert Burton performs with the Northwestern University Mime Company. PLAY got him to break his silence and tell us what mime is all about.
Play: How did you get started?
Robert Burton: My freshman year there was a performance during New Student week for all of the freshman theatre majors. Before I saw the show I was really turned off to the idea of mime, but the show totally changed my outlook. The company performed comedy pieces and very serious and sometimes tragic pieces. I was so interested in how the company developed the pieces that I wanted to get involved myself.
Play: What’s your performance like?
RB: Generally when people think of mime they get this image of an annoying guy in a park with a striped shirt on. In reality mime is a very beautiful and powerful art form. Our company’s performances are similar to those of the Marceau Marceau. They tell a story in some way or another. Relationships are established, plots develop and entire worlds are created out of thin air, all with only the body. We usually perform in the Louis Theatre in the TI building, but the company also does shows for schools in and around Chicago. Some Graduate Company members actually perform and teach classes all around the country.
Play: What was the weirdest part of being a mime?
RB: I would have to say getting used to performing without words. Before mime I had only done regular theatre and I was not very comfortable in silence on stage. Performing these pieces in complete silence, with no real props, costumes or dialogue was really frightening to me at first. I felt like I had nothing to fall back on. No comfort zone on stage. By the end of it all I was much more comfortable with myself on stage.
Play: What’s the coolest thing?
RB: Well two summers ago the company took a trip to Avignon, France, for the month of July. We performed in the Festival d’Avignon. This festival ran all through the month of July and completely consumed the town of Avignon. There were actors, clowns, mimes, dancers and singers — anything you could imagine. There were thousands of performers. We performed our show every day for the entire month in a 14th century cathedral. The experience of being completely immersed in art and performance for a month was like nothing I had ever dreamed of, it really changed my life.
