INTRO: Hello and welcome to The Fame Drain, where we at The Show interview those celebrities who in their day brought a tear to the eye and in some cases not deliberately. In the studio today we have master of his art, a maestro in the genre. Despite his skill, he’s not in the public eye as much as he used to be. Confirming the rumour that student radio has to get whatever celebrities it can dig up, Ladies and Gentlemen, Marcel Marceau!
STUART: Hi Marcel! Welcome to The Show. We've all heard of you, and wherever the subject of mime is discussed, you are without a doubt regarded as the master of the art. Mime may not be as big as it used to be, but your name lives on. So why have you been out of the limelight?
[Pause]
STUART: No...no... Not quite sure what you’re doing there Mr. Marceau…um, no…still not getting it, sorry. Uh, Adam?
ADAM: (hesitant) Right. Okay. Your trademark make up was the black and white face that came to be known by millions, but today you’re sporting a more modern mime set in green and brown. Is this because you feel the need to move with the times or simply because you fancied a change of image?
[Pause]
ADAM: Okay, I think he’s trying to portray feeling trapped…not with that glass cage thing, but by conveying the emotion of claustrophobia…
ANNABELLE: (interrupting) No, no, no. He’s showing us how his old image was decaying and stifling him, and preventing him from being reborn in the art…
BEN: (in the background, shouting) Can we get a Theatre Studies student in here please!? We need an interpreter! Yeah!
ANNABELLE: Um, Marcel? You’ve been heralded as the new leader of the underground arts movement, how do you feel about this?
[pause]
ANNABELLE: Right. I think he stiffened, don’t you? (agreement from everyone) Maybe he stiffened with pleasure? Fear? What do you normally stiffen for? Perhaps you can stiffen for happiness?
(Everyone apart from Ben, a line each, all mics but BEN’s faded down to about –8 to give the impression that the rest of The Show team are having a whispered discussion whilst the real action is going on in with Ben on the edge of the studio)
CAT: You can’t stiffen from happiness, can you?
ADAM: I can.
ANNABELLE: No no no. I don’t think you can. It’s definitely got to be bad.
ADAM: Stiffening could mean fear, I suppose, but why would he be frightened?
STUART: I think he’s stiffening from the responsibility he feels as the head of the movement.
ANNABELLE: Rubbish!
CAT: It’s not rubbish!
(and so on until interruption by BEN)
(Over the top of the previous conversation)
RANDOM STATION PERSON: Ben! Pssst! I found you a Theatre Studies student!
BEN: Great! The Show’s dying on it’s feet here!
RSP: Uh, right. Well, I found one, but they didn’t come.
BEN: Why not? Radio show, theatre student...what's the problem?
RSP: Well, I said you needed an interpreter to help with an interview with Marcel Marceau, and they just laughed at me!
BEN: Why?
RSP: Ben, ( hoarse whisper ) HE’S DEAD.
BEN: (interrupting above conversation) Guys, guys, guys! (quieter) Guys. Look, I’m sorry to break it to you, but Marcel here is…well…he’s dead...
(sounds of revulsion from everyone)
BEN:...Stuart, where did you say you dug him up from again?
[PUNCH IN WITH THE POOR DANCE SELECTOR]
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