London International Mime Festival: what to see

Fans of all things uncanny, look sharp: Les Antliaclastes are back at London International Mime Festival 2019 with a thoroughly creepy looking wordless performance. Masked performers, automatons, and puppets made of broken toys and animal skulls combine to act out a fairytale, which unfolds when a giant cuckoo clock chimes 13. 

This magical micro-performance by Catalan artist Xavier Bobés whips through the history of Spain in the second half of the twentieth century, using nothing more than a tabletop and a handful of tiny props. It returns to the 2019 London International Mime Festival after a sell-out run in 2016.

Dance duo Thick & Tight mix drama, lip-synching and queer aesthetics in this triple bill. They'll conjure up icons from Claude Cahun to Princess Di in a series of witty duets and solos. 

Gecko's swirling dance piece 'The Wedding' dresses each cast member up as a bride, to explore the formal and emotional bonds between individuals and society, and the ties of tradition. 

Mime Fest regular Thomas Monckton is a master of manipulating his own body, creating strange and hilarious physical works. His follow-up to his hit 'Only Bones' unfolds in a paint-splattered artists' studio, where attempts to create art result in total mayhem. 

Valerie Jean Solanas is notorious for trying to murder Andy Warhol, and for her violent feminist text SCUM Manifesto. Puppetry company Plexus Polaire use life-size human puppets, jagged music, hallucinatory video imagery and plenty of wit to tell her story in their show 'Chambre Noire'. 

Gandini Juggling have made their name with dazzling kaleidoscopic shows that use everything from balls to teacups to traffic cones to create intricate patterns in their air. Now, they're teaming up with contemporary dance choreographer Alexander Whitly that explores how the eye perceives colour, set to a bold soundtrack. 

Brrrr! This frosty show creates a tiny Arctic landscape that's under threat from more than just chilly winds. Focus & Chaliwaté use lo-fi techniques and physical theatre to tell the story of a group of filmmakers who discover the threats of climate change first hand.