Alithea Mime Theatre

The Alithea Mime Theatre is a company dedicated to a continuing vision of mime theatre both as a single discipline and as a multidiscipline, with an emphasis on group choreography. After co-founding the Goldston School for Mimes in Salt Lake City in 1980 with Gregg Goldston and Deborah Wasserman, this summer residency program relocated to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and eventually became the School for Mime Theatre. A body of work emerged from the school that would inspire the creation of the Invisible People Mime Theatre, a company that would tour the Midwest United States and Hong Kong from 1987 to 1995. At this time, Johnson established an artistic identity in the mime theatre with a talent for company choreography, in a field primarily composed of solo performers. In 1994, Johnson, with Sabrina Vasquez as Associate Artistic Director, established the Alithea Mime Theatre and embarked on a creative journey that continues today. In 1999, Alithea became a professional company in residence at Wichita State University.

Of Johnson’s work, Marcel Marceau is quoted as saying, “I have seen his work develop the boundaries of our art.” The documentary, Beyond the Word, directed by Greg Matthias, won a national Telly award in 2000. Chris Schull of the Wichita Eagle newspaper has described the work as an “interesting change of pace”. The Alithea Mime Theatre has been selected for the Kansas Arts Commission touring roster and has been applauded for its dynamic fusion of mime and dance, combining comic and dramatic works in a rare and unusually entertaining performing arts experience. Since 2000, Alithea has toured to international performing arts festivals in Warsaw (Poland), San Juan (Puerto Rico), Shanghai (China), and the United Nations. Alithea choreography was used by the Wichita Contemporary Dance Theatre on a tour of Taiwan-China. Alithea is the only American company that has been invited to the International Mime Art Festival 2009, Warsaw, Poland.

Photo by: Cindy Miller