A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause

by Shawn Wen

  Mime and Marceau have become interchangeable. Audiences have a hard time imagining the art form beyond his white face, barren stage, sailor suit, and above all, silence.

  Remember, it was Deburau who turned Pierrot into a mute, at the insistence of French authorities. Napoléon barred speech from playhouses to protect France’s official state-run theaters, continuing the tradition of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. Before Deburau’s pantomime blanche, Pedrolino’s chatty family improvised speech and acrobatics in the commedia. Greek and Roman mime performances were accompanied by song and narration from the chorus. Mime hasn’t been silent all that long.

  In addition to wordless performances, Marceau and Deburau had one other thing in common. Both men died and appeared to take everything down with them. “The genius of Deburau had been replaced by a long succession of imitators who recreated the outward form, but had lost the inner fire; pantomime was an affair of the hands and face, the body covered by voluminous garments,” wrote Thomas Leabhart in 1998.

  In 1945, when twenty-two-year-old Marcel Marceau sat down in the darkened cinema and watched Les Enfants du Paradis, did he foresee his own ascent?

  SCENE 18

  A fetus uncurls, like a fern. His back straightens. Chest inflates. The force of air fills his lungs. His stride turns graceful and robust. The vigor of youth progresses easily into the confidence and control of middle age. But this lasts only a minute. The actor appears full strength not even half of his three-minute performance. He slows down. Limbs tense, steps stir, face grows twisted and eyes blank. The walk becomes a crawl, body contracting and vivacity fading from his face. A moment before the stage light drops, death perfectly resembles birth.

  SOURCES

  Andriotakis, Pamela. “Silence, Please! France’s Genius of Mime, Marcel Marceau, Is Bringing His Art to the U.S. Once Again.” People, February 12, 1979. http://people.com/archive/silence-please-frances-genius-of-mime-marcel-marceau-is-bringing-his-art-to-the-u-s-once-again-vol-11-no-6/.

  Aouli, Rachid. “Marcel Marceau Laid to Rest in Paris.” USA Today, September 26, 2007. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-09-26-524348347_x.htm.

  Associated Press. “Marcel Marceau Auction Nets Nearly 500,000 Euros.” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 27, 2009. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-eu-france-marcel-marceau-052709-2009may27-story.html.

  BBC. “Marcel Marceau Debt Auction Ends.” BBC News (online), May 27, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8069362.stm.

  Butler, Robert. “La Grande Illusion.” The Independent, January 7, 1995. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/la-grande-illusion-1567088.html.

  CBC Arts. “Fans, Colleagues Upset Over Auction of Mime Marcel Marceau’s Personal Effects.” CBC News (online), May 25, 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/fans-colleagues-upset-over-auction-of-mime-marcel-marceau-s-personal-effects-1.800427.

  Clarity, James F., and Eric Pace. “Marcel Marceau, Renowned Mime, Dies at 84.” New York Times, September 24, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/arts/24marceau.html.

  Crumley, Bruce. “Marcel Marceau’s Not-So-Silent Auction.” Time, May 27, 2009. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1901182,00.html.

  DeWitt, David. “Marceau, Stuck Inside a Hat, Says, ‘’.” New York Times, October 28, 2000. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/28/theater/theater-review-marceau-stuck-inside-a-hat-says.html.

  Dorcy, Jean. The Mime, and Essays by Etienne Decroux, Jean-Louis Barrault, and Marcel Marceau. New York: Speller, 1961.

  “Eight London Newspaper Magazine Reviews of a Performance at the Old Vic.” Review of Marcel Marceau, Old Vic, London. August 20–September 15, 1984. London Theatre Record IV, no. 17 (1984). In the collection of the Billy Rose Theatre Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York.

  Felner, Mira. Apostles of Silence: The Modern French Mimes. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1985.

  Frankl, Paulette. Marcel & Me: A Memoir of Love, Lust, and Illusion. Santa Fe, NM: Lightning Rod Publications, 2014.

  Garcia, Jean-Luc. “Le mime Marceau s’est éteint à Cahors.” La Depeche, September 24, 2007. http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2007/09/24/23109-le-mime-marceau-s-est-eteint-a-cahors.html.

  Leabhart, Thomas. Modern and Post-modern Mime. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989.

  Lust, Annette. From the Greek Mimes to Marcel Marceau and Beyond: Mimes, Actors, Pierrots, and Clowns; A Chronicle of the Many Visages of Mime in the Theatre. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2000.

  Marceau, Aurélia. “Lectures Spectacles 2015–2016.” Theatrical program from L’Oeil du Silence. http://www.crl-midipyrenees.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Dossier_Presse_Loeil_du_silence.pdf.

  Marceau, Marcel. “1950–1987.” Clippings. MWEZ + n.c. 18,852. Billy Rose Theatre Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York.

  Marceau, Marcel. “1955–1965 in the USA.” Clippings. MWEZ + n.c. 27,753. Billy Rose Theatre Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York.

  Martin, Ben. Marcel Marceau: Master of Mime. New York: Paddington Press, 1978.

  Samuel, Henry. “Marcel Marceau’s Black Hat and Red Rose Auctioned in Paris.” The Telegraph, May 26, 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/5390047/Marcel-Marceaus-black-hat-and-red-rose-auctioned-in-Paris.html.

  Silence Community. “Le Mime Marceau.” You-Tube video, 28:43. Excerpt from the French television program Bienvenue. First broadcast November 2, 1966. Posted September 6, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG8A3r2Rcg8.

  Stage. “Eloquence Without Words: The Art of Marcel Marceau.” Feb 14, 1952.

  T-Clippings: Marceau, Marcel. Billy Rose Theatre Division. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, New York.

  Tessier & Sarrou & Associés. “Le Mime Marceau (1923–2007).” Auction catalog: May 26–27, 2009. Bibliorare.com; 2 pdfs. http://www.bibliorare.com/cat-vent_drouot26-5-09-1.pdf; http://www.bibliorare.com/cat-vent_drouot26-5-09-3.pdf.

  Tessier & Sarrou & Associés. “Le Mime Marceau (1923–2007): La Vie D’un Mythe Francais Aux Encheres Acte I - Lot 1 à 500, Mardi 26 Mai 2009.” Auction website. http://www.neret-tessier.com/html/index.jsp?id=4163&lng=fr&npp=10000.

  Tessier & Sarrou & Associés. “Le Mime Marceau (1923–2007): La Vie D’un Mythe Francais Aux Encheres Acte II - Lot 501 à 901, Mercredi 27 Mai 2009.” Auction website. http://www.neret-tessier.com/html/index.jsp?id=4165&lng=fr&npp=10000.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Parts of this book appeared in Seneca Review and Iowa Review. Research was supported by a grant from the Royce Foundation.

  I’m grateful to the following mimes who granted me interviews and allowed me to observe performances and rehearsals. Their inventiveness and reverence informed much of this work: Ivan Bacciocchi, Gyöngyi Biro, Wolfram von Bodecker, Alexander Neander, Maxime Nourissat, Angélique Petit, Lorin Eric Salm, and Elena Serra.

  Tim Chartier and Gemma de Choisy made crucial introductions. Mira Felner’s elucidating writing on mime allowed a novice to wade into its history and theory. Insights from Mika De Brito changed the course of this work.

  My deepest gratitude to the Sarabande staff: Ariel Lewiton, Kristen Radtke, Emma Aprile, Danika Isdahl, and especially my editors Sarah Gorham and Kristen Miller, who elevated my writing and made this book a book.

  All of my thanks to Thalia Field, whose own work broke my definitions of literature. My gratitude also to Beth Taylor, Catherine Imbriglio, Roger Mayer, and Richard Eder. What exceptional luck to come across you all as teachers.

  Linda Vaughn first saw the light.

  With joy and gratitude to my friends, who saw me through early drafts, and in turn offered advice, warmth, and humor (and beverages and a place to crash): Hannah Begley, Nick Chung, Sean Cole, Alexander Eichler, Alexandra Kleeman, Bourree Lam, Caitlin McKenna, Lauren Moseley, Kara Oehler, Amanda Shapiro, Lauren Spohrer, Ben Stark, Kevin Tang, and Dayna Tortorici.

  I’m thankful to my parents, and for their
love and steadfastness.

  And, finally, to Klaus: my fiercely intelligent, generous, and handsome man.

  SHAWN WEN is a writer, radio producer, and multimedia artist. Her writing has appeared in n+1, The New Inquiry, Seneca Review, Iowa Review, White Review, and the anthology City by City: Dispatches from the American Metropolis (Faber and Faber / n+1, 2015). Her radio work has broadcast on This American Life, Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Here and Now, and Marketplace, and she is currently a producer at Youth Radio. Her video work has screened at the Museum of Modern Art, the Camden International Film Festival, and the Carpenter Center at Harvard University. She holds a BA from Brown University and is the recipient of numerous fellowships, including the Ford Foundation Professional Journalism Training Fellowship and the Royce Fellowship. Wen was born in Beijing, raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, and currently resides in San Francisco.

  SARABANDE BOOKS is a nonprofit literary press located in Louisville, KY, and Brooklyn, NY. Founded in 1994 to champion poetry, short fiction, and essay, we are committed to creating lasting editions that honor exceptional writing. For more information, please visit sarabandebooks.org.