Mummenschanz

If you already suspect mime has more to offer than underwhelming pretenses of performers trapped inside glass boxes, it’s almost certain you’ll have heard of Mummenschanz. Their influence on modern day theater may be hard to detect, now that it has filtered into the mainstream; the daring premise this troupe embarked upon in 1972, to explore the common ground between mime, dance and puppetry, has been adopted and expanded by progressive performance artists everywhere.

Founded in Switzerland, Mummenschanz was established by three performers, Bernie Schürch and Andres Bossard, both Swiss, and Floriana Frassetto, an Italian-American. From the start, they enforced no rules or style on themselves, leading many critics, even fans, to claim that what they created could not be called mime. The troupe happily flew in the face of labels; even now, Frassetto maintains that they remain true only to the spirit of their first performances. While others have followed them, Mummenschanz see no reason to stop inventing.

Thirty years of performance have not always been easy. Nine years ago, Bossard passed away. That they could continue without one third of the founding team is testament to the strength of the medium they created, which they now bring to the U.S. in their latest show, entitled simply "Next," which arrives at Penn this week. The magic they cast is colorfully surreal — objects we consider inanimate are invested with life through dazzling puppetry while, conversely, performers are often costumed as abstract shapes without a discernable top or bottom, front or back. The overall effect should be similar to witnessing a vaudeville show in a sweet shop — a stage full of wiggling licorice allsorts, followed by waltzing jelly babies — yet the artistry is never hard to find; the jelly babies’ faces and bodies have the distorted perspective of Picasso’s cubist figures. The dreamlike quality falls in with Schürch’s aim to "wake the child who is sleeping in each spectator." The queue for theatrically-induced regression starts here.

—Juliet Fletcher

Jan. 31-Feb. 4, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900.