MUMMENSCHANZ came into being in 1972 thanks to the strong motivation of three young people who had lived an enriching period in the sixties and undergone a three-year experimental practice in different disciplines. The trio offered an alternative not only to Pierrot lunaire (the classical white-faced storyteller) but both to the refined white-faced narrative pantomime (where all is left to the imagination of the audience) and to the expressiveness of the classical dance. Since more than four decades MUMMENSCHANZ's non-verbal theatrical language has continued to develop independently of the contemporary mask-theatre quintessence. The 'stories' told by MUMMENSCHANZ are merely visual. No musical tracking, no stage set. Only objects, mask-objects; just bodies, object-bodies evolving against a black background thus composing a playful paralanguage that can be understood by all.
