Pantomime Theatre Arts What is Pantomime Acting without

Pantomime Theatre Arts

What is Pantomime? Acting without talking Comes from the Greek word “pantominios, ” which means “all” “imitator” (imitate all)

PANTOMIME Imitates actions from real life Can be part of normal performances Appears realistic Conveys a specific action No props; has imaginary objects Must have a beginning, middle, and end—thru story

Why Study Pantomime? It is the first phase of acting Body Voice Mind The language of action is universal ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!

Importance to Acting the audience will notice your body movement on stage before you speak it is the basis to acting, you must do more than speak words on stage characters are portrayed and identified by movement, facial expression, gestures

History of Pantomime Oldest means of dramatic expression Successful hunts Victorious battles First actors used to express their hopes for the future, along with: Dance Chants

History of Pantomime Silent movies Charlie Chaplin (early 1900’s) Marcel Marceau (1950’s) “the language of the heart”

Key Elements of Pantomime Simplicity-Simplicity of the story will help the audience understand what is happening. Don’t cloud the story with too many details. Accuracy-Makes the presentation believable and the actions are correct. Consistency-Keep all the items in pantomime the same size, shape, weight and in the same place. Exaggeration-Make the action in pantomime bigger than life, helping the audience see your action with more clarity.

Facial movement and emotion Surprise: wide eyes, brows lift, mouth in a O Happy: eyes squint, brows lift, mouth curves up

Sad: narrow eyes with lids dropped, outer brow turns down, mouth turns down Anger: eyes narrow, brows furrowed, mouth twisted down, lips curl out and down into a sneer, jaw drops and sets firmly

Actions and Personality strong-willing confident personality stands tall, broad gestures, definite movements, actions away from the body shy personality drawn in, small gestures, slower movements, actions down and towards body

DOs and DON’Ts DO exaggerate facial expression DO show the shape, size, weight of objects DO focus fully on the task DO show the audience who you are, where you are and what is happening DO plan a beginning, middle and end DO include conflict or a problem DON’T mouth words DON’T make any noise DON’T use props DON’T include body contact DON’T include violence, weapons, etc.

Gesture and Facial Expressions Practice Relief (“Phew!”) Impatience (“You’re late!”) Calling someone over (“Come here!”) “No, thank you. ” Excitement (“I can’t wait!”) Begging (“Pretty please? !? ”) Approval (“That’s great!”)

Object Practice-Metamorphosis Talk on the phone Open a can of soda Type on the computer Pick up a pencil Pick up a bowling ball

Individual Pantomimes Keep it Simple! Examples: Walk along the street and get bubble gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Try to open your locker. It is jammed. Wash your face and get soap in your eyes. Look for a towel. Put on a pair of shoes that are too tight. You have been robbed and your hands are tied behind your back. Try to call the police on the telephone. You can’t find the right key to open the lock on the door. Drink a large glass of water and then discover you have swallowed a bug. Eat a piece of candy and then realize you ate a piece of cat food by mistake.

Let’s Make Soup! ACTIVITY: Have everyone sit in the circle and you have an imaginary pot that you're going to pass around the circle. Tell the kids when they get the pot they can put any ingredient in the soup they want. They have to be sure to keep the shape of the pot, and the heaviness, etc. When they are done putting their ingredient in the pot, they pass the pot to the next person and the class guesses what the item was. They can get creative with their ingredients. It usually starts off with vegetables, etc. , but inevitably the kids will start putting other things in there. . . shoes, snot, hair, etc. When the pot gets back to you, you then tell them they have to TRY the soup. So you pass the pot around again, this time with a spoon, and they have to work on their expressions as they taste the nasty soup. It's super fun and the kids love it.