Legendary mime Marcel Marceau performs in Kyiv (06/24/01)

Legendary mime Marcel Marceau performs in Kyiv

by Stephen Bandera

KYIV - Pope John Paul II is only one of the 20th century's icons visiting Ukraine this year.

The legendary Marcel Marceau pre-empted the pontiff by arriving in Kyiv for the "Kyiv Travnevyi" (Kyiv in May) performance festival. The 78-year-old mime performed two sold out shows at the Lesia Ukrainka theater on May 24 and 25.

Mr. Marceau's mother traces her roots to Ukraine, although the mime insists she spoke Rusyn, not Ukrainian, and that there was no such country as Ukraine when she emigrated to France. At the time, the town of Yabluniv, near Kolomyia, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother married a Frenchman named Mangel, and gave birth to Marcel in Strasbourg in 1923. During the second world war, Marcel and his brother Alain changed their name to Marceau (after a general during the French Revolution). Mr. Marceau's father died in Auschwitz in 1944.

"Marceau wanted to come to Ukraine," the president of Arka 3, Olga Pokalchuk, said. "There are obvious sentimental attachments to the land," she added. The idea to bring Mr. Marceau to Ukraine came to Olga and her husband, renowned Ukrainian writer Yuri Pokalchuk, after a chance meeting in Paris two years ago.

"This is the man who studied Charlie Chaplain and taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk," Mr. Pokalchuk, the tour's media liaison explained. "Naturally, we wanted to bring him to Ukraine."

Mr. Marceau associates Ukraine and Ukrainians with dancing - he recalls seeing the Hopak being performed, and said that has left an impression on him. "Ukraine has very deep roots," Mr. Marceau explained, "whoever doesn't have a past does not have a future - that's what I want to tell the younger generation."

Though Mr. Marceau performed in the Soviet Union at various times throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s, the last time he was in Kyiv was 1973. Mr. Marceau's current appearances in Ukraine came immediately after a tour of the United States, and two shows in Spain. He still performs more than 200 shows a year.

When asked what his secret to staying young is, Mr. Marceau simply responded "Respect your body." Reporters prodded him to find out if he subscribes to Buddhist theories of silence or practices yoga. "That's my secret - respect your bodies," he maintained.

Sitting in the second row, you could see every crease and crack in the 78-year-old man's whitewashed face and hands. Nevertheless, the mime moved with the elasticity, accuracy and timing of a young man.

But it was his sense of humor that made the show. The complete silence in the hall was made hilarious by the mime's moves and expressions, supplemented with an occasional thump of his foot for accents, like opening a wine bottle. Mr. Marceau succeeded in "telling" complete short stories - from a murder case in court to a bachelor who is visited by five mademoiselles from a marriage agency. Mr. Marceau also performed his famous hands piece set to Ukrainian Orthodox music.

But Mr. Marceau's finale - the maker of masks - was more somber compared to the previous lighthearted adventures of his trademark Chaplain-like character Bip. In this piece, the mime dons and removes a number of masks. The trick is that his only prop is his own face. So he changes from a smiling mask to a sad mask to a funny mask.

Then he put on a gargoyle-like mask with a sneer reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's Joker from the original "Batman" movie. But when he tried to take this particular mask off, it refused to give way. The mime struggled, and pushed and pulled, but could not take it off. Mr. Marceau's face seemed to be carved out of rock, as he kept the same expression for 10 minutes.

His inability to take off the gargoyle face turned into obvious agony. But the mask refused to give, and the violence of his efforts grew. Finally, with one last effort using all his strength, he removed the mask with a violent tear. But along with the mask, he tore everything away. The mime struck a deathly pose - together with a lighting trick his eyes, mouth and hair disappeared into black, leaving nothing but a skull on a skeleton's body. A warning, perhaps: Don't let the masks you put on get the better of you.

The audience refused to stop clapping at the end of the show. When the standing ovation finally ended, Mr. Marceau jumped back out on stage to the crowd's delight.

Mr. Marceau performed in Kyiv courtesy of Arka 3 (France), Maksanna (Ukraine) and United Resorts & Cruises of the World (France).

Even the president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, took time out of his hectic schedule to surprise Mr. Marceau with a meeting.

As for missing the pope in Ukraine, Mr. Marceau expressed regret, "It's too bad - I have a piece I wanted to show him."

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