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The William Fifield Collection

Marcel Marceau Speaks

Marcel Marceau on Mime: An Impromptu Conversation with William Fifield, recorded in English in Paris in 1968.
(Reissued by Times Two Audio in October 2000.)

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First issued by Caedmon Records in 1971, this conversation on mime, recorded by Marcel Marceau and the American writer William Fifield, is an in-depth look at Marceau's art.

In this recording, Marcel Marceau traces the history of mime and discusses his own role in its renewed popularity. Calling mime the art of "making the invisible visible," he shares how he developed his signature character, Bip, and began performing all around the world, a tour de force career that has lasted for more than 50 years. He speaks with eloquence about the purpose of his art, which, he says, is to show how life is. And branching off to his interests and experiences off the stage, he talks about his paintings, his belief in the universality of man, and his life during World War II, when he took part in the French Resistance and also had to hide from the Gestapo because his father was Jewish.

Digitally remastered, "Marcel Marceau Speaks" was released again in October 2000 by Times Two Audio, a division of the Times Two Publishing Company. The company is reissuing the books and recordings of William Fifield as part of The William Fifield Collection, a digital archive of the writer's work.

A novelist and O. Henry Award winner, William Fifield (1916-1987) also wrote nonfiction, including a biography of Modigliani, and published a series of conversations with Picasso, Cocteau, and other major twentieth-century artists and writers.

Track Listings
1. The Origins of Mime
2. Making the Invisible Visible
3. The Eternal Law of the Underdog
4. Style and Character through Gesture
5. The Mime Must Sing within Himself
6. Life Copies the Theater

Total playing time: 59:50

2000, Times Two Audio