Nov. 23: Mime Academy, the only mime troupe in the city, is back in action after a year’s gap. The group will stage a show titled Puppet tomorrow for the next two days at the Kumar Bhaskar Natya Mandir auditorium.

The academy, which was established in 1991, could not stage any shows last year for want of an auditorium. Its previous production was Gobhait Chor in 2003.

“We generally stage plays requiring a large numbers of performers, and therefore, we need a huge auditorium on the lines of Rabindra Bhawan, which was being renovated until a few days ago,” rued Moinul Haque, director of the academy. “To carry on with our yearly production, we have now decided to host the play at Kumar Bhaskar.” The recently renovated Rabindra Bhawan will take some more days to host any performances.

The one-hour mime play is a satirical take on modern times, with a focus on problems such as corruption and insurgency. The play has been directed and conceptualised by Haque himself.

“I have used actors as puppets,” said Haque. “Altogether there are 30 characters in the play.”

Haque said miming is an unconventional and difficult medium of expression and music plays an important role in conveying the message.

The music of the play has been scored by Ratan Das, a close associate of Haque. Odissi dancer Anjana Saikia has choreographed the play and designed the costumes. Forty-seven-year-old Haque is widely known for his solo performances: Childhood of Moinul, Boxing Champion Moinul, I Love You Moinul, Ballonwalla Moinul, Disheartened Moinul, Maskmaker Moinul are some of his famous ones.

The West Cultural Zone of India has invited Haque to perform in Udaipur next month.

“Most of my performances are either comedies or satires,” said Haque. He is currently concentrating on group performances to popularise the art of mime. “I visit small villages and towns and conduct workshops to get people get interested in this rather unusual art form.”