2 Masks Theatre
Hennie Jaffe
Jonathan Becker is a mask maker, teaching artist and performer. He provides theater masks, fine art sculpture and his photography to educational institutions, producing organizations , individual performing artists and collectors world wide. Explore the site. Imagine a project. Dream of possibilities.
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Good morning Jessica,
I have taught masks for the last several years and am glad to share with you what I know, plus I'll throw in my Evolution of Theatre (Greeks & Commedia del Arte) PDF free of charge!
I combine mask making as part of understanding the origins of theatre from the Greeks and as a way of introducing the concept of the mask as both a costume piece and an actual character to be 'donned' for a performance. This makes for a wonderful hands-on project which segues into Commedia del'arte.
Originally, I used paper mache and although I still talk about it as a viable medium with which to create masks, I no longer use it for the mask project because of the mess. I have since moved on to plaster bandages. They're inexpensive (Amazon: ACTIVA Rigid Wrap Plaster Cloth, 5 pounds). I have also taught "found item" masks which can be whole lot of fun too! Found items are paper plates, cloth pieces, Solo cups, you name it and you can make it into a mask--excellent for having them construct masks based on specific characters from a play you're reading.
If you're looking for a great online resource about masks, take a look at the work of David Knezz (David Knezz Maskmaker
); very nice fellow, talked to him when we did "Phantom of the Opera" about how to cast a neoprene mask for our Phantom.
I'm attaching the PDF of my Greek & Commedia PowerPoint for you (or anyone else who's interested) to look over and use as you wish. If you'd like more details on the how and what I teach, feel free to shoot me an email directly at theatrea...@gmail.com
Best of luck in your mask making!
Aaron
OK, first off, to let you know that I know what I'm talking about, I put myself through university by working in the medical field, first as a practical nurse (I spent considerable time working in an isolation ward), and later as an industrial first aid attendant. (My required non-physics elective at university was medical physiology.) I've also been an emergency management volunteer for a couple of decades.
Now I've talked about security theatre in regard to COVID-19, and we are discussing other issues related to the coronavirus. But one of the things that has bugged me ever since it started hitting the news is the masks.
Masks won't keep you from getting COVID-19, or any other droplet bourne virus. (At least, they don't reduce your risk very much.) The paper face masks provide next to no protection in this regard, and the N95 masks aren't much better. Droplet bourne viruses will still get on your skin, on your face, and into your eyes, and simple daily activities make you touch your skin and face and mouth and eyes and provide the viruses a path inside. You don't need to inhale the virus to get it, and, if you do get COVID-19, it probably will be from some other pathway than inhaling it. This is why frequent (very frequent) handwashing is important. (Hand sanitizer is good, too. If you use it frequently.)
Masks are useful, if you have the virus, in preventing you giving it to other people. (Not a complete prevention, mind, but useful.) So, if you are wearing a face mask in public during this epidemic, you are making one of two statements:
This advice, by the way, applies to influenza as well. Which brings up another point: if you are worried about the COVID-19 virus, and still haven't yet gotten a flu shot, you are stupid and ignorant. Even in China, you are much, much more likely to get the flu than COVID-19. Even in China, the likelihood that the next person you meet will have COVID-19 is about .0001. (Probably somewhat less.) But if you go out into a crowd (if you can find a crowd in China these days), you are likely to encounter somebody with the flu. Having a flu shot probably doesn't reduce your risk of getting COVID-19, but it does reduce your risk of getting the flu. If you get the flu, then you may have to get tested for COVID-19, and that puts that much more demand on the system and resources.
Secondly, I agree with Rob that Type 2 maskers are ignorant, but I believe they are not stupid. They are being wildly misled by a combination of politicians and political hacks (er, commentators) that are trying to use the virus situation as a political bludgeon (never let crisis go to waste). They are further being misled by "news" media who revel in reporting doomsday stories, and also find photos of crowds wearing masks to be much better click bait than a photo of a physician in a white coat behind a microphone giving professional advice and explanation. The news reporting is further compounded by some "reporters" who are trying to support the political goals of the first group.
It is hard for he general public to know when to follow up with questionable reporting by looking for the sorts of references I just linked. In fact, theses days it is hard for the general public to realize they are being confronted by questionable reporting.
Signature will no longer require masks inside the theatre for most performances. To accommodate our patrons who need to attend performances where the audience is fully masked, we have scheduled 2-3 performances for each mainstage production where masks are required inside the performance spaces (those dates are listed below).
You can get an exchange with no fees or a full refund of your ticket price (not including fees) until the day of the performance if you or any member of your household are not feeling well and cannot attend the performance.
UKNow recently caught up with UK Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Nancy Jones to find out more about her UK Core class, Creativity and the Art of Acting, and her pedagogy that speaks to our current pandemic.
Nancy Jones: Masks have been used for over two thousand years in theatre. The Greeks used masks as expressions of character, but it's also thought that they may have helped with actors' voice amplification in the giant amphitheaters.
The Italian Comedy (aka commedia dell'arte) was also a theatrical form that used masks for characters like Harlequin, Pantalone (the old man), Il Dottore, Il Capitano, etc. As these troupes traveled throughout Italy doing improvisational comedy, the masks helped audiences recognize archetypal characters in various troupes. Masks continue to be used as training tools for acting (especially neutral masks and character masks) as they help to employ the body to find the physical expression of characters.
UKNow: Your current TA 120 class had a lesson on masks, which seems timely given the current recommendations for society to wear masks in their everyday interactions. Tell us more about that specific lesson.
Students made their masks in class and then in teams staged and performed a choral ode from "Oedipus Rex" (coincidentally a Greek play about a plague) on the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall stage. It was a tremendously successful assignment.
Jones: My class is totally revamped this semester because of the pandemic. I spent three months creating online content that is fused with the small group work they do in the hybrid setting to ensure students have a robust face-to-face experience.
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