BACK STAGE REVIEW Dance Diary OCTOBER 20,1995 By Jennie Schulman Time for Mime The American Mime Theatre, which has not been seen in repertory in New York City for quite a while, offered a performance at the Donnell Library Center Auditorium on Oct. 8. The company was founded in 1952 by Paul J. Curtis and has been under his direction since. A delightful duo "Music Box," performed by Janet Carafa and Mario Brufau, opened the program. Two figures emerge from a crouched position, rising in the sharp, jerky movements of puppets. Circling in mincing steps, they soon begin to indicate characteristic human behavior -- kissing, turning away from each other, and getting into a wrangle. But before they can wreak havoc they stop suddenly, as if their inner mechanisms had run out, and revert to their original crouching position. The two mimes seemed to enjoy their antics immensely. So did the onlookers. Three masked figures appear in "The Lovers": a witness or manipulator, and a male and female -- the latter two in somnolent state. When the woman awakens she goes through a series of sensual movements, then slowly slides across stage on her knees toward the man. Whenever their emotions seem to rise they suddenly remove their masks as if to reveal the games that lovers play. The trio involved -- Frank Copello, Mary Eastman, and Marc Maislen -- contributed startling portrayals. A series of tableaux make up "Peepshow," with myriad scenes flashing on and off as if seen through a slide projector. These alternate between the comic and sardonic. We could almost believe that they could have been inspired by Goya's devastating "Capfichos" etchings. 'Me members of American Mime Theatre -- Dale Fuller, Jean Barbour, Mario Brufau, Gary Cunningham, Katlin Tyler, and Mary Eastman -- were seen in images quite as incisive as, although in no way imitative of, the great artist. "Sludges" turned out to be a comic riot. Although the word is described in the dictionary as "a thick, greasy mud or something resembling this," the work is send-up of braggart patriotism. Members of the group appear, urging each other upwards and landing in the weirdest positions. And do they ever have a time extricating themselves from their entanglements! At the conclusion, the man who was the leader is replaced by a woman. C'est la guerre! Dale Fuller and Katlin Tyler as the leaders were hilarious in their dogged determination. Three misfit characters make up "Hurly-Burly": Compulsive (Mario Brufau), Boor (Paul Curtis), and Social Martyr (Dale Fuller). They arc huddled together on a chair. Despite their total incompatibility, as indicated by the mean tricks they play on each other, they make supreme efforts to remain a firm trio. When, after a fierce battle, they fall off the chair, they lose no time getting back onto it. They cannot face the world by themselves, for they need each other, no matter how their rowdy emotions create wedges among them. "Hurly-burly" is among the oldest and most potent works in the company's repertoire. The excerpt from "Dreams" saw Paul Curtis as the dreamer beset by his alter ego and figments of phantasmagoric characters, all of whom mock him endlessly. There seemed no awakening from the dreamer's extensive nightmare. The program concluded with "Six," in which the dancers could be seen as inhabitants of an asylum. There is the compulsive neurotic, constantly at war with everything an everyone; the gregarious soul, anxious to latch onto anyone; the tearful one, who, when she isn't clutching her bag to her chest, is crying or screaming; her opposite, the character who breaks out into peals of laughter constantly; a young girl fearful of anyone touching, or coming near her; and the misogynist. All are funny and pathetic by turn, which makes them all the more touching. Jean Barbour, Dale Fuller, Mario Brufau, Marc Maislen, Mary Eastman, and Paul Curtis were the memorable mimes.