The Mime Company was born out of a desire to study the actor’s potential in the theater. Bud Beyer, acting teacher and professor of theater at Northwestern University, began a program of training in mime to enhance the study of the actor’s tool, and to practice and produce theater in its most basic form.

Professor Beyer founded the Northwestern University Mime Company with a group of undergraduate theater students in 1972. Through daily rehearsals, strenuous workouts and the constant focus on creating new theater, the NU Mime Company became not only a training ground for young actors, but a forum for each burgeoning artist to voice his or her unique point of view through original, self-generated pieces which were guided by a master teacher.

Since 1972 the company has continuously evolved. Developing a reputation for its ensemble works, a rare spectacle in the largely solo art of mime, the company began producing many major concert performances, including a three-week tour in Poland and a month of performances at the International Theater Festival in Avignon, France.

Ultimately these efforts gave way to The Mime Company in its current form, an ensemble of professional artists equipped with the physical training and creative dedication which brings new life to the ancient and essential art of mime. The ensemble continues to be refreshed by new membership, allowing the company’s repertoire to constantly benefit from the intersection of new approaches and experienced views.

In 2006, The Mime Company’s co-artistic directors Amanda Brown and Eliot Monaco, students of Beyer’s and company members since 1998, adopted the program in mime at Northwestern University. In addition to guiding the company’s professional work, they continue to focus on training, education and the pursuit of the actor’s true potential in the theater.