Why don't mimes speak?

Answer 1

A mime artist is a performer who works with pantomime; a performing art that originates - at it's earlist - from anchient Greece. It's name is taken from a single masked dancer called Pantomimus. In Medieval Europe, early forms of mime were known as mummer plays as the "mimes" were "mummers" back then. Dumbshows evolved off mummer plays. But, the silent whitefaced figures we know today are because of Jean-Gaspard Deburau - who solidified the many attributes that make up present day mimes. Mime artists use pantomime as a theatrical medium, involving the acting out of a silent story through body motions. Silent performing was popular for another reason. The Greek and Roman ampitheatres were often huge and without the sound systems we have today. Hence actors often used masks with built in megaphones along with stilts to increase their height all in the attempt to be seen and heard by those in the farthest reaches of the theatre audience. Therefore an actor performing silently without relying on the spoken word had advantages. The huge theatres were also a reason for actors to exagerate their movements in order to be seen. A tradition carried on today in theatre stage shows and not necessary or appropo in film and television.
Because it's their art and their challenge to tell a story without speaking, using their bodies only.