Masks

“We Wear the Mask"

We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be overwise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
- Paul Laurence Dunbar













MASKS

One big aspect of the original production was the use of masks. Masks are a strong visual metaphor for the ways that we hide behind our identities. In the original production, all of the Chorus members, including Mammy, were in masks. But that does not meant that they are the only characters that hide behind a mask. As an ensemble, we did a mask-making workshop, led by guest artists Najee Haynes-Follins & Sarah Jackson.


NAJEE & SARAH’S MASK MAKING WORKSHOP

What you’ll need:

One roll of plaster gauze
Tub of petroleum jelly
Bowl of warm water
Paper towels
Scissors
Assortment of paint
Any other decorative materials
Craft glue or hot glue

Procedure:

Pair off the participants and have them decide who will be making the mask and who will be masked. Have the face of the maskee generously cover their face in petroleum jelly, paying close attention to the hairline and eyebrows. Cut strips of gauze to desired lengths. Dip the gauze in the warm water and make sure to squeeze out excess water. Place the gauze on the face. Make sure to do at least three layers- once the mask has become rigid on their face, it is ready to come off. If they want to add any extra structural pieces to the mask, do so while it is still semi-wet. Once it’s dry, it’s ready to be decorated!












While waiting for the masks to dry, think about different theatrical games you can play … Here are some games that we played


French Telephone (Do Nothing)

This game only works with an odd member of participants. Everyone should focus on the person one over to the person to their immediate left. The facilitator will begin the game by telling the participants to “do nothing”, unless the person they are watching moves, in which case they should imitate them. No one should drastically exaggerate these movements unless directed to do so by the facilitator; the action should naturally become exaggerated as the game progresses. The game will end when the facilitator decides to end it.

Character Walks

Participants are asked by the facilitator to move about the room as they normally would. They are to think about the way in which they move, but not change it. Maybe they hold tension in a very specific part of their body, or they walk in a particular way. The facilitator then asks the participants to locate the part of their body that they lead with- this can be their center, their knees, their neck; everyone moves in a different way. Once they have found the part of their body that they lead with, they are asked to exaggerate it, until they are no longer themselves, but have created a new character.

Variation 1: Similarly to French Telephone, participants focus on one person in the room to study and copy. They begin by choosing a person to imitate, then studying their movements similarly to how they studied their own. Once the facilitator tells them to start, the participants begin to take on the movements of their person, and slowly exaggerate them.

Variation 2: This game is a great way to discover movements of the characters. Tell the participants to envision their character- the way they speak, their insecurities, and personal choices. The participants should think about how their characters might show these things through their bodies. If Mammy feels mischievous, how might she hold her hands? If Claire feels vulnerable, how might she walk into a room? Once they feel confident in embodying their character, the participants can begin to interact with each other, and see how that changes their body language.

Decorating the Masks

The original ensemble was asked what their character’s spirit creature would be. They decorated their masks accordingly. Here are some images of the masks:

We used these masks as rehearsal masks for the chorus members, which helped them think about themselves as non-human beings during rehearsals. This is not necessary for your participants, especially if they will not be in masks during the final production. It might be fun to have the participants do a final character walk with their masks on and see if that changes the ways in which they move their bodies and interact with each other.

Writing Assignment # 1

Are there any times you feel like you have to wear a mask about an aspect of your identity? How did you feel about the ways in which people interpreted your body language? Did you feel like those were accurate portrayals of you? Did you learn something new about the mask that you wear?