For the past month, the Loeb Mainstage has been host to a veritable menagerie of nature’s most ferocious beasts. On any given night, the stage will be crowded with a pride of lions, an ambush of tigers, a den of snakes and even the occasional ghost. But these creatures hardly ever make a sound, and they seem to appear and disappear at a moment’s notice.

In fact, the only way one could tell they’re there at all, is by paying close attention to the feral handwork of one 81-year-old legend and his troupe of former students. With only their ingenuity and bodies at their disposal, they collectively set out to make “the invisible visible.”

A Master of His Art

The 81-year-old in question is Marcel Marceau, recognized internationally as the world’s greatest mime. Since Sept. 10, he has presented at the American Repertory Theatre (ART), with the help of his seven-member Nouvelle Compagnie de Mimodrame, an evening of mystery and familiarity, of mirth, fright and above all, humanity.

His show, “Les Contes Fantastiques,” is divided into two acts. The first act consists of a collection of virtuosic yet touching solo vignettes entitled “Pantomimes of Style,” entirely performed by Marceau. About half of these vignettes feature his onstage alter ego, “the dreamy little poet” Bip. The second act features three mime-dramas, or “mimodramas,” presented by the company as an ensemble.

Some of the solos in the first act, such as “The Public Garden” and “The Mask Maker,” are well-known classics that Marceau has performed throughout the world since 1947. Achieving octogenarian status hasn’t slowed Marceau down; he averages 200 shows a year and past performances include a three-month stint on Broadway and numerous television and cinematic appearances. Yet even without knowing of his legendary reputation, Marceau’s solo exercises are breathtaking in their concise ability to produce so much out of thin air.

One spectacular example of this is “The Creation of the World,” which Marceau meticulously depicts from the very first bacteria to the genesis of Adam and Eve, using nothing more than his body and the space around him, in about 10 minutes.

Many people assume that Marceau physically cannot speak; that he is deaf or mute and that his profession was a product of this condition. But offstage, he most certainly speaks—at length. As he himself has famously said, “Never get a mime talking. He won’t stop.” In a question-and-answer session on Sept. 29, Marceau shared a great deal of advice and wisdom with students and performers of the ART and of the Harvard community.

An Array of Influences

Marceau says his largest influence is Charlie Chaplin, because unlike Marceau’s master teacher Etienne Decroux, Chaplin demonstrated the ability to show humor within tragedy. Marceau believes that this sense of “tragicomedy” truly reflects the essence of human life. In the first act of his show at the ART, Marceau proves the effectiveness of such a paradox when Marceau’s alter ego, Bip, laments his inability to adequately perform as a lion tamer.

Despite the powerful influence of Chaplin and other great silent film stars, Marceau says he originally aspired to become a speaking actor. When Decroux recognized Marceau’s talent for mime in 1946, his plans changed.

Nonetheless, Marceau stresses the importance of studying the work of great performers of every type, regardless of one’s own artistic specialization. He further emphasized this point last week by reminding students attending his talk to take notes on his advice and by telling them to look up any unfamiliar author, actor, or literary work mentioned in his talk. Marceau believes that no single art form is greater than any other, but, instead, any work of any kind of art must be deeply moving to its audience in order to have worth.

The second act of the show, “Les Contes Fantastiques (Fantastic Tales),” reflects Marceau’s conviction that any artist must also have full knowledge and understanding of the historical roots of his craft. The first mimodrama, “The Wandering Monk,” has stylistic and thematic roots in Japanese Noh drama, and the calm, flowing movement of the company reflects the peacefulness of Zen Buddhism.

“The Masquerade Ball” appears to be a modernized take on 19th-century Italian commedia dell’arte, and “The Tiger” is a retelling of an ancient Chinese tale, complete with intricate martial arts choreography. The specifics of each piece reflect the wide range of disciplines in which all members of the company has trained: pantomime, Decroux’s exacting “grammar for the body,” Marceau’s own modern mime technique, dance, acrobatics, fencing and martial arts.

In the program notes for the show, Marceau mentions Greek mime drama, Verdi’s operas, the writings of Edgar Allan Poe and the Brothers Grimm as other influences in these group works. Additionally, he stresses the universality of art as a reflection of common human experience which ties together such a diverse mix of cultural references.