Lomography

Carousel by Jonathan Polkest

CAROUSEL -A mimodrama, choreographed and directed by Andrzej Leparski, Gest Student Pantomime Theatre, Wroclaw, Poland, October , 1977 The fourth international pantomime workshop in Wroclaw Poland of the Gest Student Pantomime Theatre founded in 1960 provided an occasion for the revival of the mimodrama CAROUSEL performed by the Gest mimes and chorographed and directed by Andrzej Leparski,At the culmination of the workshop, Carousel first staged in 1971 was performed on a flat area in the centre of a Wroclaw auditorium.The minodrama begins with what appears to be warm-up exercise in a mime class, to the haunting sound of drum beats , scenes evolve without any apparent exposition development or climax loosely coonected by a theme which unveils itself gradually,The dramatic symbolism of Carousel direct and outspoken is on the whole, well interpreted by the mimes and enriched by objects - cubes, poles a cross, a teeter-totter, the carousel.The ingenious play of objects sustained by the sounds of musical instruments, merge effectively with the theme of the predominance of external forces over the efforts of man,The pantomimic expression employed by the troupe,although often seemingly improvised is carefully choreographed and punctuated by forceful static attitudes and poses.At one point when spectators are pulled onto the stage, a spontaneous quality is added to the staging but at the expense of continuity and a weakening of the dramatic tension.All in all the choreography is original and forceful highly subordinated to a significant theme, The mimodrama although weaker in its revived form still maintains much of its original primeval élanvital.