ABSTRACT
There is a characteristic rhythm to the staging of Deburau’s pantomimes: an alternation between the relatively calm episodes of expressive or dialogistic mime acting and the fast-moving slapstick comedy of elaborate sets, props, machines and acrobatic movement. This alternation was as important to pantomime at the Théâtre des Funambules as the change between recitative and aria in opera, between dialogue and song in vaudeville theatre, or indeed between mime and dance in Romantic ballet. Both aspects are cited time and again by spectators who marvelled at the way Deburau seemed to speak to the spectator during the moments of expressive mime acting, who marvelled also at the other moments of dazzling physical capers. Usually only one side of pantomime – the dazzling physical antics – is mentioned by modern scholars, thus misconceiving the genre in general and underestimating Deburau’s acting skills in particular. In this chapter, we consider this alternation in the context of the birth of the modern art of ‘mise en scène’ and the use of the material stage (including the body) to parallel and contribute to the meaning of the play manifest in a script, sung lyrics, character types or any other non-material aspect.
