Étienne Decroux to the Théâtre de l'Ange Fou

This book affords a rare first-hand insight into the dramaturgy, techniques and aesthetics of the father of modern mime from a pupil/practitioner perspective and thereby offers a better understanding of much 20th century theatre and art in general.

In this book, we are given unprecedented access to working with the father of modern mime, Étienne Decroux, through the first-hand experiences of his student and assistant, Corinne Soum. She offers insights into her time working as Decroux's student then assistant, from analysing his work and his multiple approaches to improvisation to her promise to him to continue his legacy - a legacy that has now been in existence for over 40 years.

This is essentially thanks to Corinne Soum and her partner, Steven Wasson, also previously an assistant of Decroux's, and their relentless focus on the transmission of Decroux's 60-year project of establishing and developing corporeal mime technique.

We see that promise and that legacy in practice, from Soum and Wasson's teaching at The Étienne Decroux School and their founding of the company Le Théâtre de l'Ange Fou to major reconstructions of Decroux's repertoire.

Supplementing Soum's own first-hand experiences is a contributed essay by Steven Wasson, as well as an interview by her and Wasson with ex-student Marcel Marceau on the subject of Étienne Decroux. A contextual introduction also helps situate Decroux and corporeal mime in the wider theatre landscape of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Corinne Soum was born in France in 1956 and studied corporeal mime with Etienne Decroux before becoming his assistant, along with her partner, Steven Wasson. During this time, she shared in his research, teaching and creations. Later, she and Wasson developed a pedagogy for the Corporeal Mime Technique, which they have taught for the past 40 years. They have a global alumni who attended their studio schools in Paris, London and Wisconsin, USA. They devise, perform and tour shows around the world with their company Theatre de l’Ange Fou, comprised of performers trained specifically in the Corporeal Mime Technique. She was Professor of Corporeal Mime at the Ecole de Mimodrame Marcel Marceau for seven years and in 2018 was presented with the Special World Mime Organization Award for the Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Mime. Soum has travelled throughout Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East to teach mime and physical theatre.


Natasha Steinberg was born in London into a French-German speaking home. She engaged in method acting before discovering corporeal mime in a London pub-theatre in the early 2000s and then attended the International School of Corporeal Mime, London, with Corinne Soum and Steven Wasson, going on to qualify in movement components for physical theatre. She has a Masters in Drama from Bangor University, UK, and has studied and worked in France, Germany and Brazil. She has had her own Pilates and movement studio for the past ten years, offering movement classes across diverse communities in Sao Paulo and London.


Étienne Decroux (1898 - 1991) was born in Paris, France, and trained with Jacques Copeau. He worked under the direction of Antoine Artaud and Louis Jouvet, and appeared high-profile French films. Decroux founded a school in Paris and was invited to teach at drama institutions across the world, including in Italy and the US. When he moved to New York, he founded The Mime Theater, which toured the country in the 1950s, and taught at the Actors Studio, the New School for Social Research and New York University. He returned to Paris in the 1960s and opened his own school where he taught until very close to his death.