Mime Radio Show

Nola Rae was born in Sydney, Australia. She migrated with her family to London in 1963 and trained at the Royal Ballet School. She  danced professionally in Sweden before studying mime with Marcel Marceau in Paris. She co-founded French-based  International Research Troupe Kiss, Friends Roadshow with Jango Edwards, and was a member of the Bristol Old Vic Company. In 1974 she founded her company London Mime Theatre with Matthew Ridout, and has since toured her work to 68 countries worldwide. In 1977 she sparked the London International Mime Festival, which will celebrate its 45th edition in January, 2022. 

Nola’s early solo sketch shows mixed mime, dance, clowning, puppetry, and controlled lunacy. In 1990 she radically changed  her style and began presenting full length solo comic dramas. She is in demand as a director, acclaimed for turning classic tragedies into clown theatre. 

Broaden Your Mime and The Clown Speaks Without Words are Nola’s workshops dedicated to letting the body do the talking.  

She has been the subject of two television documentaries and  has received a Total Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Charlie Rivel Award for Clowning. In 2008 Nola was awarded an M.B.E., The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an honor bestowed by the Queen of England for Nola’s services to Drama and to Mime.

Website: nolarae.com