Responding to the rapid expansion of non-verbal performance and cross-boundary trends in performing arts, the London International Mime Festival (LIMF) now includes circus arts, puppetry/animation, masks, comedy and clowns, as well as mime, movement and visual theatre, although some works would fit in more than one category. And even though verbal expression is limited, silence is not the golden rule. LIMF also holds screenings of classic circus films “Trapeze” and “The Circus” in addition to various workshops.

It is however important to bear in mind that “pantomime” has a different meaning in the UK than elsewhere and as such, pantomime, a Christmas tradition, doesn’t belong in this festival.

At the Soho Theatre, London-based New Zealander artist Trygyve Wakenshaw is entertaining the audience until this Saturday, with his solo work “Nautilus”. With long limbs, a rubber face and a strong background in both theatre and mime, he is not only cracking jaw-breaking jokes in short skits of various lengths most of which concern chickens cats and cows, but also offering a look at the world from another perspective. The audience gets to laugh as much as to think and many might even decide to opt for a vegan lifestyle.

At Jacksons Lane Theatre in North London, Glasgow-based physical theatre artist Al Seed’s solo work “Oog” puts the audience right into a different world – that of a soldier who has been through the misery of war and is becoming less human as a result. Complemented by Guy Veale’s eerie soundtrack and a bleak set, costume and lighting design, Seed’s movements are slow, oftentimes repetitive yet powerful.

But the highlight of my first LIMF experience has been British circus theatre company Ockham’s Razor’s “Tipping Point” at the Platform Theatre on the campus of Central Saint Martins. Seated in an arena stage set-up surrounding the stage, the audience – those in the front row are less than a metre from the stage actions – witness a unique ensemble of two female and three male performers. They have co-devised this 70-minute awe-inspiring work with immense creativity and considerable humour and perform coherently with one another with sheer trust, high discipline and tremendous playfulness. With different body types and sizes, they know how to assign each member to a certain task that involves performing on and with the metal poles, some of which are hung from the rig above while others are held up on the floor by the performers. These poles themselves have various functions and become another group of characters, thanks to our imagination.

Held by the performers, who swing it around in the opening scene, white powder pours out of a pole defining the circular performance space. In the final scene, white powder also pours out of a pole that’s hung from the rig, but it swings as if freely and the pattern makes the stage look like a painting.

Just like another exemplary work of nouveau cirque, “Tipping Point” is more than circus skills and simple thrills.

And in a month when the London weather offers little sunlight, lots of rain and even occasional snow, LIMF is sizzling, reconfirming that theatre can mean more without spoken words and proving that there’s much more on the London stage than West End musicals.

The writer wishes to thank Arthur Leone PR’s Emma Hardy for all assistance.

LOUDER THAN WORDS

• The London International Mime Festival continues until February 6. For details, check, http://www.MimeLondon.com.