Now that the festive season is behind us, it’s time to plunge into another year of culture excitement. The always-packed London calendar traditionally starts with the London International Mime Festival – one of the capital’s theatre pillars and annual home to visual theatre from both the UK and abroad. For aficionados of performance, live art, new circus, puppetry and other visual genres, this festival has been the first January port of call for over 30 years. If you’re intrigued by the world of non-text based theatre, LIMF’s wide programming spectrum is the right place to start: the choices this year include full mask stories of Worcestershire based Vamos Theatre as well as an impressionistic reinvention of James Joyce’s The Dead by Italian company Città di Ebla. Run-Riot talked to the festival’s co-directors, Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan about their inspiration and motivation, how visual theatre’s diversity is reflected in the audiences, and what not to miss this year. LIMF kicks off on 8th January.

Run-Riot: LIMF is not only London’s longest standing theatre season, but also a rare beast in that it has been run by the same duo since 1987. How has the festival changed over that time? What’s the lure in remaining devoted to an organisation for so long?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: From it’s origins at one small fringe theatre (The Cockpit) LIMF grew quite quickly to its present scale of operation, collaborating with prestigious venue partners like the Barbican, Royal Opera House and Southbank Centre and others. Over the years we’ve been involved with literally dozens of different partners including gallery spaces like the South London Gallery, Sadler’s Wells and the West End’s Donmar Theatre, as well as venues across the UK, and even a season in Hong Kong. The work we promote is still considered somehow ‘alternative’ (alternative to what, we’re never quite sure!) and it’s rewarding to see unusual shows being presented in such important venues, and so becoming part of the mainstream. What hasn’t changed is the festival’s commitment to visual theatre.   

We love making this special festival each year, and feel fortunate that we have the chance to do it. We admire and enjoy the artists and the work they create. It’s that simple. We continue to find the work contemporary and relevant, and the festival continually evolves and reinvents itself – as it must.

We also find inspiration and maintain our energy for LIMF through other work beyond the festival. Joseph has also been director of the New Zealand and Hongkong Festivals and Helen has worked with a number of other festivals and seasons, including LIFT and most recently for LOCOG.

RR: How long in advance do you start the curating process behind the festival? How do you balance the UK section of the programme with the international one, and most importantly, what guides the selection process? Are there any themes or avenues you were specifically looking to explore this year?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: We have to start programming the larger scale shows about two years ahead, but we always like to keep the back door of the festival open until the last possible moment – there’s often a last-minute find, something really special that would add an extra dimension to the programme and that we know our audience will enjoy.

We don't programme with a specific theme – other than seeking work which impacts through visual means. We don’t want to be limited. But somehow LIMF programmes invariably reflect the zeitgeist, the concerns of the time, and the 2014 season has several shows exploring identity, relationships, emotions and dreams.

RR: For those new to the festival, Mat Ricardo’s ‘juggling comedy’ and Non Nova’s dark explorations in identity might not immediately seem like a match. How wide is LIMF’s visual theatre umbrella? What is it that makes a show - for the lack of a better word - fit under it?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: The LIMF programme is a very broad church, showcasing work that appeals to a wide audience. Mat came from street theatre and has honed his craft over very many years. It's goes far beyond simple comedy juggling and is also a tribute to other great artists' routines from the music hall and vaudeville. Phia also originally came from juggling, but from a more theatrical setting and it just shows how varied this art form can be, that these two artists, both jugglers, are now poles apart in terms of what they present on stage.

RR: Technology has come a long way since the inception of the festival, opening up an entirely new visual language for theatre. How have you seen it impact the work you curate? Which performances in this year’s programme use technology in a particularly intriguing way?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: Yes, that's true. Some performances do now have very complex sound, lighting or video-scapes, but, whilst that can be mesmerising and effective, sometimes sheer simplicity is just as magical. So, this year on the one hand you have Compagnie Non Nova's two wind-driven performances, L'Apres Midi d'Un Foehn and Vortex (Platform Theatre Wed 8-Sat 11 Jan), where the audience sits in a circle around a vortex created by a ring of electric fans, whilst on the other hand you have Fet a Ma's performance Cru (Southbank Centre's Purcell Room, Mon 20-Wed 22 Jan) - a man and a woman, with a breathtaking series of hand-to-hand acrobatic routines. No tricks, just a stripped-back, breathtaking display of strength, agility and vulnerability.

RR: Would you say that LIMF attracts an audience as diverse as its programme?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: Absolutely. Our audience is young, old and everything in between. Spoken text plays little or no part in the vast majority of our shows, so we have a huge following from people whose first language isn't English, as well as deaf and hearing-impaired people really feel this is a festival for them, for pretty obvious reasons. The major reasons people cite when saying why they came to the festival was that they wanted to see something different and they trust our programming taste. There are no household names in the festival, so people have to take a leap of faith.

RR: When it was first founded, LIMF set out to create a space in Britain for British visual theatre artists, ‘many better known abroad than in their own country’. More recently, another festival - SPILL  - was created with a similar aim: Robert Pacitti professed to starting it so both him and similar artists wouldn’t have to work abroad all the time. Do you see this forced artistic immigration, which in turn inspires new institutions to be created, as an unresolved issue in UK theatre and performance? Are there any styles and genres you think are lacking a space today?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: Most of the UK artists we have presented – for example, Improbable, Complicite, Blind Summit, Spymonkey, Ockham’s Razor and many others, are certainly very well known here, so things have changed. But happily, British artists, especially visual theatre performers have always been and still are still in great demand abroad.

What’s still missing in London are flexible venues with height, able to accommodate the work not designed for formal theatre spaces or inflexible studios. We see a lot of work abroad that really should be seen here, but for all sorts of logistical reasons is just impossible for us to present.

RR:  Finally, what’s your recommendation for the veteran audiences this year? What should the newbies go for?

Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan: Ok, let’s answer this another way. If you want pure entertainment, try Lebensraum or Cocorico, both very clever and very funny. If your taste is more adventurous, Vortex, One Step Before The Fall, A Bas Bruit or Aurélien Bory’s latest show questcequetudeviens? will all take you on memorable journeys - as will everything at LIMF 2014!

London International Mime Festival
8 Jan – 1 Feb
at various locations around London
mimelondon.com
@mimelondon
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