What a wonderful week. The week of my annual teaching mask-making to Theatre Design students at Nottingham,m Trent University.
20 of them this year. They have been super fast and super focused. There attention to the Mask Symposium two weeks ago clearly influenced their understanding of the a mask is and what is can be used for. Design brief was as usual, a random selection of an archetypal character PLUS a qualifying adjective.
The quality of the work has been exceptionally high.
The project started with Peter Rumney and his lecture on ‘Shamanism” as a likely root of theatre. Then S.J. demonstration of mask styles, Neutral, Naive, Archetypal Character, Emblematic character, The Human Animal and Commedia dell’Arte and Design Brief. Day 2, drawing and clay design, Day 3, barrier layer and first paper, Day 4 J-cloth layer and final layer of paper, Day 5, removing from clay, cutting, trimming, edging, painting and performing. Intense, hand-on, experiential learning.
Stephen Jon Mask 