London International Mime Festival, Various Venues

For those who think January is a cultural wasteland: cast that duvet off and prick up your ears. There's one silent festival that's making a lot of noise.

Joseph Seelig, recipient of a 2012 Total Theatre award, started the International Mime Festival thirty-eight years ago. Along with Dance Umbrella and LIFT, the month-long Mime festival is dedicated to bringing England the best in contemporary visual theatre from around the world.

Whether it is live art, new circus, puppetry or object theatre, all productions are focusing on telling a great story using minimal words. Asking Joseph Seelig about the highlights of this upcoming season, he mentioned L’après-midi d’un foehn and Vortex by French company Non Nova ('old things in new ways').

Based on a true story, Anatomia Publica by French company Man Drake is about a man coming back to his wife having been at war, and settling down to a ménage a trois. Made of fractured movements rather than dance, it is said to be wonderfully gripping. French artists Aurelien Bory and Mathurin Bolze also return to festival in 2014.

Another show well worth catching is The Dead, by Cita de Ebla, a production based on short stories of love and loss, written in 1914 by James Joyce.

Last but not least, Spitfire Company brings to the festival One Step Before the Fall. Inspired by Mohammed Ali and his last, lost battle against Parkinson disease, and performed by a dancer accompanied by a singer, it is about resilience in the face of a doomed fight.

All the shows are bound to thrill- we trust the sharp eye of Joseph Seelig and his associate Helen Lannaghan in selecting strong visual shows, not only enchanting to watch but also interesting and thought provoking. The International Mime Festival is a tradition for the theatre world and a brave and exciting experience for any newcomers.

For the full line-up click here.