The mask handbook : a practical guide

201 Pages·2007·1.585 MB·English

by  Toby Wilsher

The Mask
Handbook
‘A very readable and usable book, it will be useful for students
and teachers, not only in training for the use of mask but for
developing skills in devising and performance skills. The book
demystifies much which has become the province of the
initiated and reserved for those in the know and is written by
someone with comprehensive and respected experience as
awriter, director and performer.’
Anne Fenton, General Adviser Drama,
West Sussex LEA
In The Mask Handbook: A practical guide, Europe’s leading mask
director and co-founder of the Trestle Theatre Company sets out to
demystify the process of using masks. In an age of bland realism
on television and technological excess in film, masks have the ability
to truly play the fundamental game of theatre – the suspension of
disbelief. They ask the audience to participate in the theatrical process
in the way children do, with a desire to believe in the simple trans-
formation of actor into character, and to connect their imaginations to
those of the actors.
Full of simple explanations and written by a director with over 25 years
experience of writing for, directing and acting in masks, this book
includes:
• an introduction to the origin of masks
• advice on preparing, making and using masks
• tips on writing, devising and directing mask work
• lots of fun and effective practical exercises.
This accessible and inspiring handbook will empower teachers,
directors and actors to fully explore the world of the mask.
Toby Wilsherco-founded Trestle Theatre Company in 1981. For 23
years he was an actor, writer, maker, designer and director for Trestle,
seeing his work performed in 31 countries. Since 2004 he is a
freelance director, writer and corporate trainer.
The Mask
Handbook
A practical guide
Toby Wilsher
First published 2007
by Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
©2007 Toby Wilsher
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Wilsher, Toby.
The mask handbook : a practical guide / by Toby Wilsher.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1.Masks–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2.Acting–Handbooks,

manuals, etc. I.Title.
PN2071.M37W55 2006
391.4′34–dc22
2006015187
ISBN10: 0–415–41436–9 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–41437–7 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–96779–8 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–41436–4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–41437–1 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–96779–9 (ebk)
For Gill and Barry

Contents
List of illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
INTRODUCTION 1
1 MASKS!? IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY!? 5
2 WHERE DO OUR MASKS COME FROM? 11
3 HOW THE MASK WORKS 29
4 APPLICATIONS 39
5 PREPARING FOR THE MASK 45
6 USING THE MASK 69
7 DEVISING WITH MASKS 87
viii CONTENTS
8 DIRECTING MASKS 123
9 DEVELOPING TIME ON STAGE 135
10 THE HALF MASK 145
11 OTHER MASK TYPES 157
12 MASK DESIGN AND MAKING 163
Contact information 177
Bibliography 181
Index 183
Illustrations
0 Hanging Around,Trestle Theatre Company 3
1.1 Company of Angels,Horse and Bamboo 9
2.1a and 2.1b Devil Ecuador and African mask from
author’s collection 16–17
2.2 Greek acoustic female chorus masks by
Mike Chase 22
2.3 Commedia Captain mask by Mike Chase 24
2.4 ‘The Examination’, Moving Picture Mime
Show 26
2.5 Mask of W. T. Benda 27

3.1 Crèche,Trestle Theatre Company 33
4.1 Flowerpots,Natural Theatre Company 43
6.1 A mask’s first moment 71
6.2 On the hot-seat 74
6.3 The Lesson 76
6.4 The Packing exercise 83
6.5 Hats and props 83
7.1 The Five Point exercise 98
7.2 and 7.3 A wants B not C exercise 101
7.4a–7.4d Moulding 104
7.5 Mildred and youth from Island,Trestle
Theatre Company, masks by Mike Chase 111