Peter Abbott: Grafton’s mime
I’m going to say one word to you, and one word only.
Mime.
You cringed, didn’t you?
Meet Peter Abbott.
He was a Grafton native who went on to international acclaim for his work as a mime. An exhibit of memorabilia associated with his life is now on display at the Grafton Historical Society, which saw a lot of visitors Sunday as part of Grafton Celebrates the Holidays.
Peter Abbott, who died in 1985 at the age of 32, was the founder and director of the Mime Studio in Worcester and “the driving force behind the New England Mime Festival,” according to the Historical Society.
At the time of his death, he was a featured performer for the 400-year-old Benneweis Circuis in Denmark.
I Googled Abbott and came up sadly short, save for a truly lovely post by Jeff on Wormtown Taxi where he recalls his friend’s short life:
Back around 1970 or so, Peter Abbott told me that he was going to study to be a mime. We were hanging out at the Grafton Common, where everybody hung out in those days. “A MIME???” I asked, in utter shock.
And really, mime aversion aside, how can you not adore the notion of a guy who grew up in Grafton choosing a very unconventional path, with good humor and clear vision, and doing well at it?
Mime.
Means something different to you now, doesn’t it?
I’m miming my comment…
I’m speachless…
I studied under Peter when his studio was on the third floor on 100 Grove St, Worcester. Around that time The Grove Street Gallery had used the third floor space; but space constrains and such caused a moved to the the second floor. Peter then began renting the third floor studio and turned the old gallery space into workshop/living space. I was told that he began the art of Mime after he had broken his back in a motorcycle accident. – He will always be missed.
I had trained and performed with the Pocket Mime Theater of Boston and the National Mime Theater-Prior to that I had trained as a dancer with Tandy Beal.
I had advertised in the Boston Phoenix newspaper for a street performing partner. Peter responded.
We did a little street together, but parted ways. I went on tho be a cast member of “Catch a Rainbow” ABC television.
And in 1979 did the first New England Mime Festival in Greenfield, Mass.
A year or two later Peter called and invited me to his New England Mime Festival.
We ended up doing Abbott and Scalise. We toured nationally from colleges to festivals.
We created Pipo and Giuseppe’, two commedia characters with false noses. People loved us.
We did a performance at the Lincoln Center Plaza and John Towsen of New York Clown festival said-”I have never seen such genuine pathos done on the street.”
We had an audience with mt friend-Marcel Marceau at the Wilbur theater in Boston-Marcel loved our work and called Peter a “Great Clown”.
Peter went to Paris in 1984 and ended up with Benneweis Circus at the Tivoli gardens. I went to Greece and when I returned I formed the Wright Brothers Comedy troupe.
Peter went back to Denmark where after taking bite of an apple died of heart failure in his dressing room
At Peter’s memorial at Mechanics Hall I did a eulogy as Giuseppe in which I suggested that he would some day “Reinclownate.”
Jody Scalise