Mime

In the text of The Royal Hunt of the Sun the scene is introduced with the words, ‘In the cold night there ensues: the mime of the great ascent’. The scene of the mime of the climbing of the Andes is not simply a way of advancing the plot or of creating a spectacle for its own sake. The term ‘mime’ is sometimes used to refer to a deliberate sequence of actions which are intended to convey meaning without language. The distinctions made by M. Esslin will be useful when considering mime in the context of drama teaching. Mime can be used to build belief and focus concentration. At first sight the activity seems similar to the ‘summer’s morning’ example described above in which children mime actions to teacher narration. Mime can also be used in drama when the reason for using nonverbal communication is built into the work.