A small team of comedians plans to entertain Anchorage audiences without making a sound. No words. No music. But they guarantee the crowd will make a lot of noise in response.
Meet Mummenschanz. These silent artists don masks and costumes, assume identities forged from everyday objects, and bring their materials to life.
Founded 42 years ago by three mime-trained performers, this band of visual thespians should have experienced total turnover by now. But founder, director and performer Floriana Frassetto still takes the stage, savoring each opportunity to connect with her audiences.
Especially when she is stateside.
"American audiences are special," said Frassetto in a recent interview with Play. "As (Mummenschanz co-founder) Andres (Bossard) used to say, Americans laugh 'before the soup is cooked.'"
After training as a mime, the American-born Frassetto joined forces with Bossard and Bernie Schurch, both from Switzerland, in 1972 to form Mummenschanz.
"We converted some spoken sketches into nonverbal, silent stories," recalled Frassetto. "Then we started touring. Never did we think that, 40 years later, I would still be telling you about it."
What, exactly, is Mummenschanz doing onstage?
"I don't know. It's just … Mummenschanz," said Frassetto. "We have created a unique, nonverbal, visual theater form which is close to art, close to puppetry, close to dance, close to theater. But we use masks, and create transformation. It is in that which we have really found ourselves."
If that explanation didn't help, don't be alarmed. It seems the only way to really appreciate Mummenschanz is to attend a show. But often, after audience members have seen it once, they keep coming back.
"They tell me that they had to come back to show their grandchildren," said Frassetto. "It's very gratifying to know that the purity of our work stays effective. It's gratifying to know that we make a landmark in your mental system."
Mummenschanz was quickly successful and expanded from its European roots, first touring the United States in 1973. From 1977 to 1980, the troupe performed a remarkable 1,326 times on Broadway.
After decades together, tragedy struck the troupe in 1992, when Bossard died at age 47. But Mummenschanz continued on, slowly recruiting and replacing members. The cast that will perform in Anchorage consists of only four performers, though the costumed nature of the show may create the illusion of a much larger company.
The newest member of Mummenschanz, Giovanni Colombo, has been with the group for four years but also performed with them from 1986 to 1991.
"Back then, I felt a kind … a kind … a kinship," noted Colombo, whose first language is Italian. "We had the same feeling about the material, the manipulations, how they inspire the masks."
Colombo credits Frassetto not only with discovering him in 1986 but also with helping him overcome his fears four years ago when she recruited him back to the team.
"I said, 'I haven't been onstage in so long,' and Floriana says, 'Yes, I know, but I am confident, somewhere hidden inside, I know you are the same artist whom I met so many years ago.' She gave me the burst of confidence, and here I am, back onstage."
Frassetto is as skilled with materials as she is with people.
"Floriana is a very talented visual artist," said Colombo. "She is behind every costume, adjusting, repairing and creating new things with the materials. She is the heart of Mummenschanz."
That heart will be on display in Anchorage on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11. Frassetto answered a few more questions for Play.
Play: The performers in Mummenschanz are behind masks and wearing costumes. Does it require a particular mindset for a performer to take the stage but never be seen?
Frassetto: That's a difficult one. It takes a while to become a good performer in Mummenschanz. You have to come away from your personal awareness, your personal identity. You are in a hand, in a shape, in a tube, behind a mask. So you know, it's not very appealing to some people. It is appealing to us but you kind of give yourself, your personality, through these shapes. So your face won't become famous.
Play: And you don't mind?
Frassetto: Some people have a problem dealing with it. But we enjoy it so much that it's not a problem, most of the time. Our bodies are in the service of the transformation, of the experience. When the show ends, you have given yourself fully, but somehow that fulfillment stays within the audience for so long.
Play: How has the show evolved over the past 40 years?
Frassetto: The show we will bring to Anchorage is something of a celebration of that evolution. It shows the audience what we have been performing over the past 40 years. What we did in the 1970s was the smaller mask, the facial mask. In the 1990s, we had the bigger inflatable giant, the Slinky man, which is super copied over the world. Then in the last decade on we did a bit more puppetry, like when we hold some of the shapes in our hand, or we are behind it, not inside it like the previous decades. So this show is going to be a nice mixture of all the techniques that we have worked on.
Play: So what happens after the Alaska tour? Taking a rest?
Frassetto: After this tour, we have other tours. Rome, Berlin, France, South America. Oh no no, it's a nonstop situation.
Play: You have given your life to Mummenschanz. If you could to go back to 1972, would you make the same decision?
Frassetto: There are times when we are away from home, driving, in hotels, you know, it's not an easy life. Raising your children over the phone is hard. But when I think of the stories of people who haven't forgotten us, who have come back a second or third time, yes, I would start all over and do this again.
Play: Is the show appropriate for all ages?
Frassetto: I say it's good for ages 6 to 106. I would not bring a 2-year-old. Too small.
Mummenschanz
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 10, and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 11
Where: Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Atwood Concert Hall
Tickets: $29-$51.50 at centertix.net