Egypt's sole pantomime artist

In contrast to the overacting and over-reliance on words in Egyptian theatre, Egypt's sole pantomime performer, Ahmed Nabil offers an expressive, silent art performance 16 June, Alexandria

Expression through silence can tap into the most complex of sentiments that words sometimes fail to convey. In this regard, pantomime plays an immense role in the world of performing arts but, sadly, such an intriguing type of art has a sole performer in Egypt: Ahmed Nabil.
Nabil, inspired by Charlie Chaplin, was self-taught for ten years until he received a scholarship in 1972 to learn the art in the former USSR. Since then he has performed in Germany, India, Russia and Italy
“I always imitated others through movements, not words,” Nabil explained to Ahram Online“through pantomime one has to use the full potential of one's body. One has to use every muscle and know how to control it.”
And thus, a student has to learn anatomy, has to practice different kinds of sports, do yoga and study psychology and sociology.
“Pantomime activates the imagination of the audience,” Nabil said “we write the letters, while the audience has to add the dots.”
“For instance, if I pretend I'm holding balloons, it's up to the audience to imagine the colour, size and shape of those balloons. Everyone would see it differently,” he explained.
Nabil's favourite sketch is Doaa Lel Salam (A Call for Peace), for which he has won awards. “The piece shows that in war everyone loses,” he said.
Nabil made several attempts to start a performing arts company dedicated to pantomiming, but none of them proved fruitful. He would love to hold an ensemble performance, but in Egypt he does not find people to join him.
“This generation is only looking for material gains,” he said and admitted that the art of pantomime is not one that would provide that, neither does it garner much attention.
There are some initiatives to teach young enthusiasts, but they can hardly bring about a movement in mime art in Egypt. Nabil gives workshops supported by the Cultural Development Fund, and there are courses at the High Institute for Performing Arts in Cairo. El Sawy Culturewheel also holds an annual mime festival.
Hannaa Abdel Fattah, director and professor of theatrical arts, who taught at the High Institute for Performing Arts for two decades,admitted that there is not enough attention given to mime at the university.
“There are no experts to teach the art, no gymnastics coaches, nothing,” Abdel Fattah explained and added that he appreciates what Nabil is doing but described it as theatrical sketches, not a full-fledged mime performance.
As for the art itself Abdel Fattah says that it is very rich. “You cannot express everything through words,” he pointed out “and this is exactly what the Egyptian theatre is suffering from: an all too heavy reliance on words.”
“The language of silence can be a lot greater than nonsensical blabber,” he concludes.
The history of the art of miming
Though the beginning of human communication started with movements and gestures, mime as an art came about along with the emergence of theatre in ancient Greece in the fifth century BC. In the Middle Ages, the art took its own route. Mime troupes roamed around in convoys to perform sketches. Mime sketches were also performed during the intermission in theatrical performances.
It's only in the modern mime movement that the art has flourished, meriting a full standalone performance. Etienne Decroux (1898-1991) French actor and teacher, revolutionised the art; raising the level from merely an art to perform symbolic and comic gestures to an art of silence, where ideas are incorporated in the mime.
He developed costume, properties, and best means of expression both in body and gesture and established the “ABC's of Mime.”
He had many students who became mime masters themselves, including Jean-Louis Barrault (1910-1994)and Marcel Marceau (1923-2007),among others.
Barrault and Marceau have made their own accomplishments in the field and both have appeared in films. Perhaps one of the most important films that incorporated mime is the French film Children of Paradise, in which both Decroux and Barrault appeared.
Barrault was also famous for his act The Horseback Rider.
Marceau performed different types of mime, including ensemble pieces (known as mimodramas), Style pantomime and Bip pantomime acts, for which he was most famous for.
Bip was Marceau's alter ego, which was named after Pip, the protagonist of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, and reflected Marceau's influences and philosophy. Marceau explains Bip's nature in-depth in a book titled The Story of Bip.
As simple as it looks on stage, people assume it is a fairly easy art, but Barrault admits in his book Reflexion sur le Theatre (Reflexions on Theatre) that to learn to walk in place takes around three months of practice.
Egypt is not as privileged of having many mime artists, so it is difficult to imagine why such a unique art is not hailed. A few artists - Hamada Shousha, Mohamed Sobhy - tried to explore the art of pantomime but they never continued, preferring to concentrate acting and directing careers.
Nabil also taught Farouk El-Fishawi, Somaya El-Alfi, Magdi Imam, Ahmed Halawa and Fatma El-Tabei the art and they put on a show that was aired on TV, but they all turned to acting afterwards. Nabil now remains the sole professional performer of this art in Egypt.
Nabil's Performance Programme:
Thursday, 16 June, 8pm
Sayed Darwish Theatre (Alexandria Opera House)