THE LAST SHOW
A documentary about the impact and legacy of the London International Mime Festival.
The London International Mime Festival was the longest-running theatre festival in the UK. For forty-seven years it curated and exhibited ground-breaking British and international visual, physical performance, changing the theatre industry beyond measure. As film-makers and theatre-makers it was a privilege to film some of its final performances, to delve into five decades of archival footage, to interview some of theatre's greatest talents and to edit all of this into a love poem to the medium.
CAST & CREW
The Last Show is an Open Sky Production for MimeLondon
Directed by Lisle Turner
Produced by Helen Lannaghan & Lisle Turner
Executive Produced by Joseph Seelig & Claire Coaché
Cinematography by Kie Cummings
Edited by Dave Jones
Scored by Jonny Pilcher
Motion graphics by Olive Johnson
Assembly editing by Laura Reyes Darias
New York 2nd Unit
Produced by Marc Lesser
Additional cinematography by Adam Benn
SPECIAL THANKS TO
PEEPING TOM
Triptych: The Missing Door, The Lost Room and The Hidden Floor the final festival performance, Sunday 5 February 2023
PERFORMERS
Alejandro Moya
Eliana Stragapede
Fanny Sage
Fons Dhossche
Konan Dayot
Lauren Langlois
Panos Malactos
Wan-Lun Yu
CREATIVE TEAM
Gabriela Carrizo - Concept & Direction
Franck Chartier - Concept & Direction
Thomas Michaux - Artistic Assistance
Raphaëlle Latini - Sound Dramaturgy, Sound Composition & Arrangements
Ismaël Colombani - Sound Composition & Arrangements
Annalena Fröhlich - Sound Composition & Arrangements
Louis-Clément Da Costa - Sound Composition & Arrangements
Eurudike De Beul - Sound Composition & Arrangements
Tom Visser - Sound Composition & Arrangements
Gabriela Carrizo - Set Designer
Justine Bougerol - Set Designer
Seoljin Kim - Costume Design
Yichun Liu - Costume Design
Louis-Clément Da Costa - Costume Design
Sara van Meer - Confection Costumes
Lulu Tikovsky - Confection Costumes
Wu Bingyan - Confection Costumes (Internship)
Giuliana Rienzi - Technical Coordination
Pjotr Eijckenboom - (Creation) Technical Coordination
Bram Geldhof Technical Engineer
Ilias Johri - (Lights) Technical Engineer
Jonas Castelijns - (Sound) Technical Engineer
Johan Vandenborn - Stage Manager
Clement Michaux - Stage Assistant
Kato Stevens - Stage Assistant
Lisa Gunstone - Production Assistant
Robin Appels - Production Assistant
Amaury Vanderborght - Tour Manager
Helena Casas - Production Manager
Sébastien Parizel - Communication Manager
Veerle Mans - Company Manager
FEATURED ARTISTS
Alexander Vantournhout / Not Standing - Through the Grapevine
Andrew Dawson - Absence & Presence, Proximity (film)
Angela de Castro - The Gift
Barely Methodical Troupe - Kin
Basil Twist - Symphonie Fantastique
BP Zoom
Compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory - Plan B
Compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory / Kaori Ito - Plexus
Compagnie 111 - Aurélien Bory / Shantala Shivalingapa - aSH
Compagnie Focus & Chaliwaté - Backup
Compagnie HMG - 3D
Compagnie Mossoux-Bonté - Twin Houses & The Great He-Goat
Compagnie Philippe Genty - Forget Me Not
David Glass Ensemble - Popeye in Exile, Hands & The Brides
Dewey Dell - They Rise and They Fall (film)
Familie Flöz - Hotel Paradiso
Galactik Ensemble - Optraken
Gandini Juggling - Life & Smashed
Gecko - The Wedding
Habbe & Meik - Nose Missing
Jacqui Beckford - Nothing Compares 2U (film)
Jos Houben & Andrew Dawson - Quatre Mains
Kristin & Davy McGuire - Vertigo (film)
Les Bubb - Make Your Brains Go Pop
Marcello Magni & Jos Houben - Marcel
Miguel Barcelo & Josef Nadj - Paso Doble
Moving Picture Mime Show - Seven Samurai & The Examination
Nola Rae - Upper Cuts & Elizabeth’s Last Stand
Ockham’s Razor - Tess (rehearsal)
Olivier de Sagazan - Transfiguration
Open Sky Theatre - Cold (film)
Plexus Polaire - Ashes
Sadiq Ali - The Chosen Haram
Still Hungry - Raven
String Theatre - A Water Journey
The Adaptors - Autobahn
The PappyShow - Boys
Théâtre de l’Entrouvert - Anywhere
Theatre Re - Birth, The Nature of Forgetting
Thick & Tight - Queen Have & Miss Haven’t
Thick & Tight with Corali Dance Company & the Camberwell Incredibles - Ode to Edith
Toby Sedgwick ...Is Bernard Knowes (film)
Told by an Idiot - Charlie & Stan
Trestle Theatre - The Ties That Bind
Trygve Wakenshaw & Barnie Duncan - Different Party
Vanishing Point - Interiors
Footage of Marcel performed by Marcello Magni & Jos Houben
By kind permission of Fabien Plasson, Maison de la Danse, Lyon 2016
2023 London International Mime Festival Launch Party photos by Sarah Hickson
BBC © copyright content reproduced courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
All rights reserved.
INTERVIEWEES
Adrian Berry
Ali King
Alistair Spalding
Amit Lahav
Andy Lavender
Angela de Castro
Angela McSherry
Anna Arthur
Basil Twist
Bill Deverson
Carolina Valdes
Charlotte Mooney
Chenine Bhathena
Cheryl Henson
Clive Lyttle
Danny Hay Gordon
David Glass
Di Robson
Donald Hutera
Dorothy Max Prior
Eleanor Perry
Franck Chartier
Guillaume Pigé
Helen Lannaghan
Iain Lanyon
Jos Houben
Joseph Seelig
Judith Knight
Lucy Neal
Michael Vogel
Nicole Mossoux
Nola Rae
Paul Hunter
Phelim McDermott
Rose Fenton
Toby Sedgwick
Tom Morris
Toni Racklin
LONDON VENUES
18 Folgate Street
Albany Empire / The Albany
Almeida Theatre
Barbican, The Pit
Barbican, Theatre
Battersea Arts Centre
Bloomsbury Theatre
Canary Wharf
Centre Charles Peguy
Ciné Lumiere
Circus Space
Clore Studio, Royal Opera House
Cochrane Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
Commonwealth Institute
Croydon Clocktower
Donmar Warehouse
Drill Hall
French Institute Theatre
Goethe Institute Theatre
Holborn Centre for the Performing Arts
Hoxton Hall
ICA Theatre
Jacksons Lane
Laban
Leicester Square Theatre
Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
Little Angel Theatre
Lyric Hammersmith
National Theatre
Natural History Museum
Platform Theatre
Pleasance London
Polka Theatre
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Puppet Theatre Barge
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Riverside Studios
Roundhouse Downstairs
Roundhouse Studio
Royal Festival Hall Foyer, Southbank Centre
Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio
Sadler’s Wells Peacock Theatre
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Shaw Theatre
Shoreditch Town Hall Assembly Hall
Shoreditch Town Hall Council Chamber
Shunt Vaults
Soho Theatre
South London Gallery
Tate Modern
The Drome
The Old Bull Arts Centre, Barnet
The Place
The Spitz
Turtle Key Arts Centre
Watermans Arts Centre
Whitechapel Art Gallery
Willesden Green Library Theatre
Wilton’s Music Hall
Young Vic
FUNDERS
Arts Council England
AND
Arts South Australia
Arts Queensland
Association Française d’Action Artistique / Ministère des Affaires étrangères
Australia Council
Canada Council
Canadian High Commission
Cheryl Henson
Commissariat Général aux Relations Internationale de la Communauté Française de Belgique
CoPEC Culture from Catalonia
Czech Centre, London
Department of Canadian Heritage
Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade (Canada)
Diplomatic Representation of Flanders
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
European Commission Representation in the UK
Finnish Institute in London
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Foundation for Sport & the Arts
Fund for US Artists at International Festivals, National Endowment of the Arts
Goethe-Institut, London
Greater London Arts Association
Hungarian Cultural Centre, London
Institut français, Paris
Institut français du Royaume Uni
Institut Ramon-Llull – Catalan Language & Culture
Irish Department of Foreign Affairs / Cultural Relations Committee
Israel Lottery Council for the Arts
Jim Henson Foundation
Junta de Castilla y Leon (Fundacion Siglo)
London Arts Board
London Boroughs Grants Committee
London & English Tourist Board
Marks & Spencer
Mid Atlantic Arts
Ministeria de la Cultura de España
Moosehead Beer Arts Sponsorship
Pew Charitable Trusts
Pro-Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council
Regione Emilia Romagna
Rockefeller Foundation
Royal Danish Embassy, London
Royal Norwegian Embassy
Sasakawa Foundation
Sealink - British Ferries
Swedish Embassy, Cultural Section in London
Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain
Swiss Embassy
SWX Swiss Exchange
US Department of State
Visiting Arts
Wallonie-Bruxelles International
Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre / Danse
Thanks to all those people who have played a special part in this story
Adrian Berry - Jacksons Lane
Alec Davison - Cockpit Theatre
Ali King - Advisory Board
Alistair Spalding - Southbank Centre & Sadler’s Wells
Andrew Welch - Warwick Arts Centre
Andy Lavender - Advisory Board
Anna Bogodist - Festival Team
Anne Morley Priestman - Journalist
Annette Telesford - Festival Team
Beth Byrne - Shoreditch Town Hall
Brian Matthew - Broadcaster
Camilla Summers - Festival Team
Carla Van Der Hoeven - Festival Team
Caroline Ferrera - French Cultural Attachée
Catharine Connors - Festival Team
Chantal Bougnas - Festival Team
Charles Hart - Arts Council England
Cheryl Henson - Adviser & Supporter
Chris Barron - Manchester, City of Drama
Chris Booth - Festival Team
Clare Wharton - Southbank Centre
Claudia Amthor-Croft - Goethe Institut
Daniel Pursey - Mobius Industries
David Gothard - Riverside Studios
Debbie Butler - Southbank Centre
Deborah Williams - Arts Council England
Desmond Jones - Teacher
Diana Damian - Festival Team
Dick Matchett - Adviser
Dick McCaw - After-show Discussions Facilitator
Donald Hutera - Journalist
Dorothy Max Prior - Writer
Dudley Hinton - Festival Team
Erica Bolton - Press Representative
Eva San Roman - Festival Team
Fernau Hall - Journalist
Franziska Henner - Festival Team
Fred Klein - Friend & Enthusiast
Geoffrey Hadfield - Southbank Centre
Gina Boreham - Festival Team
Guillaume Pigé - Adviser
Hannah Horowitz - Visiting Arts
Jacqui Beckford - BSL interpreter
James Pidgeon - Shoreditch Town Hall
Jan Murray - Journalist
Jane Nicholas - Arts Council England
Jane Quinn - Adviser
Jane Quinn - Press Representative
Jean-Yves Tadié - French Cultural Attaché
Jeni Draper - BSL Interpreter & Advisory Board
Jill Shelley - Barbican Centre
Jodi Myers - Southbank Centre
John Ashford - ICA Theatre & The Place
John Farquhar-Smith - Technical Manager
John Harrison - Stahl Theatre, Oundle
Jon Howes - Technical Manager
Judith Seelig - Editor
Julia Carruthers - Southbank Centre
Kane Husbands - Advisory Board
Kate White - National Centre for Circus Arts
Ken Francey - Southbank Centre
Kenneth Rea - Journalist
Kevin Flett - Cockpit Theatre
Konrad Watson - Southbank Centre
Kyla Lawson - Festival Team
Laurence Auer - Director, French Institute, London
Liz Arratoon - Journalist
Linda Dyos - Greater London Arts Association
Linzi Whitton - Southbank Centre
Lois Keidan - ICA Theatre
Louise Jeffreys - Barbican Centre
Luc Buniol-Laffont - French Cultural Attaché
Lucy Bestwick - Festival Team
Lyn Gardner - Journalist
Lynn Maree - London Arts Association
Mandy Colleran - Arts Council England
Marie Bonnel - AFAA, Paris
Martin Boswell - Festival Team
Martin Fox Roberts - BSL Interpreter
Michael Morris - ICA Theatre
Michel Monory - French Cultural Attaché
Michel Richard - French Cultural Attaché
Neil Darlison - Arts Council England
Nelson Fernandez - Visiting Arts
Nick Giles - Shoreditch Town Hall
Oliver Wright - Festival Team
Olivier Poivre-d’Arvor - French Cultural Attaché
Pam Vision - Arts Council England
Paul Kalinauckas - Cockpit Theatre
Penny Francis - Adviser
Peter Bu - Adviser
Peter Emina - Cockpit Theatre
Peter Leone - Press Representative
Quentin Letts - Journalist
Rachael Swann - Festival Team
Raphaelle Rodocanachi - French Cultural Attachée
Richard Cross - Sadler’s Wells
Richard Fitzmaurice - Mobius Industries
Robert Adams - Old Town Hall Arts Centre, Hemel Hempstead
Ronald Wilson - Teacher
Ros Malyon - Festival Team
Ruth Glick - Arts Council England
Sacha Lee - The Point, Eastleigh
Sandie Lightfoot - Cockpit Theatre
Sanjoy Roy - Journalist
Sara Sheppard - Festival Team
Sarah Wright - Adviser
Shanti Freed - Festival Team
Shira Hess Thorne - Festival Team
Silvia Maroino - Festival Team
Simon Bourne - Barbican Centre
Sophie Claudel - French Cultural Attachée
Stephanie Brotchie - Festival Team
Stephanie Pécourt - Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre-Danse
Sue Edwards - Southbank Centre
Thomas Wilson - Rose Bruford College
Tim Albury - ICA Theatre
Tom Morris - Battersea Arts Centre
Toni Racklin - Barbican Centre
Tony Kavanagh - Technical Manager
Val Bourne - Arts Council England
Vanessa Silvy - AFAA, Paris
Vera Erenbourg - Festival Team
William Burdett-Coutts - Cockpit Theatre
Very special thanks to the festival’s long-standing core team
Anna Arthur - Press Representative
Bill Deverson - Technical Manager
Iain Lanyon - Graphics & Website
AND TO
Nola Rae