London International Mime Festival, LIMF 2022

Oh, how we missed it last year! Owing to the Covid pandemic LIMF 21 migrated online, so we didn't entirely have to do without, but there is nothing like live performance, and so, all things being equal (fingers crossed!) the 46th London International Mime Festival, LIMF 2022 for short, has us spoilt for choice with no less than 14 productions, some new, some the return of much-loved shows.

However, there will also be a digital component with five specially commissioned short films streamed online, as well as a special movie collaboration with the Barbican featuring Belgium-based physical comedy masters, Abel & Gordon. Barbican Cinema 1, Sunday 30 January at 2pm. Details and tickets here.

Here are some of the live performances of LIMF 2022 that caught our eye:

• Gandini Juggling open the festival with its brand-new show Life – a Love Letter to Merce Cunningham. Full preview here.

• Festival favourite circus group Barely Methodical Troupe reprises its acclaimed show KIN, which blends dramatic acrobatics with deadpan humour. Peacock Theatre, Wednesday 26 - Saturday 29 January. All details and tickets here.

LIMF, Barely Methodical Troupe, KIN. Photo: © David Levine
• String Theatre, The Red Balloon. This charming puppetry show, telling the poignant story of a little boy's friendship with a balloon, is performed to specially commissioned music, and is a treat for the little ones, though the whole family can't fail to enjoy it. Puppet Theatre Barge, Saturday 15 January – Sunday 6 February. All details and tickets here.

• Thick & Tight, Short and Sweet is nothing if not eclectic, a variety show that mixes dance, drag, lip-syncing and satire. Definitely mime at its most cutting edge, this show evokes figures of popular culture such as Twiggy, Sid Vicious and Rasputin (to mention but a few of this unlikely company). Unmissable. Barbican, The Pit, Tuesday 25 – Saturday 29 January. All details and tickets here.

• Theatre RE, Bluebelle – a show about parenthood, that draws on a collection of folk tales by the likes of the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, as well as interviews with parents and carers. It's accompanied by live music and sounds intriguing enough for us to recommend it. Shoreditch Town Hall, Thursday 13 – Sunday 16 January. All details and tickets here.

LIMF, Theatre Re, Bluebelle. Photo: © Chris Nash

• Vanishing Point, Interiors (pictured top) – a group of friends share a meal, and gradually all the fun and levity morphs into a climate of sadness as secrets and lies are exposed. Meanwhile, somebody is watching. This is a powerful, award-winning show from Scotland's foremost independent theatre company. Barbican Theatre, Wednesday 2 – Saturday 5 February. All details and tickets here.