Those formulae that paved the way and popularised the emergence of mime from the oblivion in which it had been languishing today seem outdated. The so-called ‘classic’ mime with its butterflies, puppet imitations, oriental stories, adventures and misfortunes of fixed characters, etc., lead to a closed circle of repetitions that condemn mime to the use of stereotypical clichés that bind it and prevent any possible evolution.

Since the creation of Els Joglars in 1962, the company has been driven by a constant urge to renovate and discover all the possibilities and limitations of mime. Above all, we have tried to do in six years what mime has taken thirty years to do in the rest of Europe, with the aim of putting our group on a par with the best international mime groups, while always ensuring that we maintain the characteristics of our southern personality. This excitement is made very clear in our participation in international festivals where at present the accent is very much on working without limits and ‘airing’ all the tradtionalisms, for the public must continually receive diverse impressions through pantomime.

Faced with this need there appears a fascinating question: at the moment of renovating and extending our means of expression and exploring the diverse characteristics we have, does mime not become limiting? I believe that the question can not be answered until a certain time has passed and we can observe the results; meanwhile, we continue to direct our work through the field of research, basing our work essentially on the productions staged to date, but at the same time jettisoning all the technical exhibitionism and ‘preciousness’: a truly collective task, both of production and interpretation is the hallmark of the production we present today. The elimination of the personal number represents the breaking with a veritable institution amongst the mime companies.

El diari falls into the experimental field described above, given that we make use of the voice, objects, the set and, above all, we have conferred on the work a rhythm of continuity of time, rejecting in this way the traditional scene changes that only serve to cool the attention of the audience.

By means of a style that is often grotesque and a rhythm that is lively and dynamic, and ever faster, El diarisets out to reproduce in the form of a pantomime the past, present and perhaps the future of the world that surrounds us, through the staged vision of the news of an ordinary newspaper. Those formulae that paved the way and popularised the emergence of mime from the oblivion in which it had been languishing today seem outdated. The so-called ‘classic’ mime with its butterflies, puppet imitations, oriental stories, adventures and misfortunes of fixed characters, etc., lead to a closed circle of repetitions that condemn mime to the use of stereotypical clichés that bind it and prevent any possible evolution.

Albert Boadella