Mummenschanz: When silence speaks louder than words

Amid the cacophony of blaring music that is the mainstay of most stage productions, the silent physical theatre company Mummenschanz provides a welcome reprieve.

Musicians of Silence from Switzerland bring their masked and prop-heavy performance to the capital next week and Al Ain this week as part of Abu Dhabi Summer Season. As they have done for 43 years, they will create a silent world on stage, using recycled materials including rubbish, cartons, foam wrappers, metal and fabrics. The only sounds to be heard will be from the audience when they react to the sketches.

Floriana Frassetto, a 65-year-old Italian-American and one of the founding members of the group, still co-creates the shows and performs. She told The National why silence is golden for the company.

What does Mummenschanz mean?

Mummen comes from the German word mumme, which means to cover or mask yourself, and schanz is French meaning chance. So it becomes the chance of covering yourself or masking yourself, which is what we do. We are masking the performers and puppeteers, if you will. Not dancers or mimes, though we do have the energy and wit of those mime dancers.

How did the concept of an entire production without sound come about?

It was in the 1970s , we were a young set of people – myself, the late Andres Bossard and Bernie Schürch – who came together for this. Andres and Bernie were just out of Jacques Lecoq’s école [school] in Paris for physical theatre. We were a bunch born in the 1960s and were all about rebelling against the society. Not wanting to copy or imitate Marcel Marceau, one of the most-famous mime artists in the world, we came up with this technique of mask transformation. We never thought it would last for more than a couple of weeks – but here we are 43 years later – still wandering about the world and travelling to make people from 6 to 60 laugh.

Did the decision to create a silent show ever worry you?

Funnily, the absence of music and sounds holds the audience’s attention, even though we are so used to shows where the music is loud with hundreds of lights moving about and changing colours. Also, we figured we would try without music because we never found the right people to work with. In the silence, there is no silence, because we hear the reactions of people as they laugh and enjoy, and children occasionally pass comments. There is this interactivity and playfulness going on between us and the audience. No one has ever said: ‘What a pity there is no music’. Actually, people ask: ‘What was the music I just heard?.’

What sketches have you retained over the years?

In this version that we will be performing in the UAE, there will be a lot of clay-mask sketches, which was the number-one invention of Andres and Bernie when they came out of Jacques Lecoq’s école. Then there is the blob sketch – a round bean bag trying to get up and regain balance but failing to do so. Everyone can identify with that – it’s like a baby trying to reach for a container of biscuits and struggling. Then we have one with toilet-paper rolls, a romantic sequence between a man in blue and lady in pink based on a misunderstanding. He wants to love her, but she does not understand and they don’t get along. The sketches are extremely modern and contemporary because these themes are part of our everyday life.

Do you start with the material and then weave a story around it or the other way round?

Basically, we need the material to be able to improvise for hours and study the moment so that we can relate the same to the audience.

Is there a story behind every sketch?

There are always little stories so that you can invent the rest of the story with us. The interactivity is important.

Do you use technology to move with the times now?

No, we keep up with the times by remaining classic and simple. We have a beautiful light design, but there are no special technical effects. Somehow it doesn’t work with us.

• Mummenschanz will perform at the Al Ain Municipality Theatre on Friday and Saturday at 4pm and 8pm (tickets from Dh75), and at Emirates Place on September 4 and 5 at 4pm and 8pm (ticket prices from Dh95). To book, visit www. tixbox.ae

aahmed@thenational.ae ​