We learned firstly how imperative it was to put on a mask properly. When using them, the idea is to immerse your audience and to make them believe you are no longer an actor, but seriously this masked person. If you were to stand in front of your audience and simply place your mask on your face, the audience wouldn’t fall under the illusion as they were able to see how false it was. You are not supposed to touch the masks when they are on your face during a performance either as this too ‘breaks the illusion' that you are playing the character of the mask as your hands do not have the same plastic effect as your face, so it would be quite apparent that the mask is just an illusion. I also learnt that when performing, it’s imperative not to turn your face to a side, as you can see the point where the mask joins the person and, again, the illusion is immediately broken.
I learnt that mask work is all about the physicality of your body. The masks have a fixed expression; you are no longer acting with your facial expressions but with your physicality and movement. I think this was both hard yet rewarding. You can’t speak as your words would be incomprehensible and your facial expressions are already set depending on what mask you pick, so you completely rely on your body to tell the story to the audience.
Our teacher did an example of how the mask is usually performed. This was beneficial as it taught me how to perform with it successfully and also gave me tips. I observed that it appeared better and more convincing for the likes of myself and my teacher as we have long hair and this can be structured effectively around your mask to support the whole image. I also became aware of just how much you do need your body. You can’t go “over the top” with your actions, it’s impossible as you are not allowed to use facial expressions nor dialogue during mask work, physicality is everything.
After, we performed mini exercises with partners to have a more personal engagement with the masks and see up close just how effective it is. The first partner exercises we did with our masks was just to introduce us into approaching how to work with them. We were all given a mask to share and took it in turns to alternate who wore it. The person wearing the mask would have to experiment with physicality whilst the other person would instruct them on just how to move judging from what thoughts the mask gave them and how to do it successfully.
The exercise was, in my opinion, beneficial because sometimes when you have the mask on you are unable to see what vibe you are giving off, you can barely see anything! So having your partner there to instruct you is really helpful. It was also as equally as beneficial when swapping and you get to see your partner in the mask and you have the opportunity to instruct them on how to portray an authentic image.
We then did an exercise where an actor went up to the performance space, tried on a mask, and were hot seated by the audience, asking them questions they had no choice but to answer with their body. An example of the questions included: "How are you feeling?" and "Do you have a girlfriend?". Although the task seemed easy, it actually proved somewhat difficult from an audience’s perspective, like I was in. As they were instructed not to use dialogue it was apparent it proved difficult for them to begin with. Speech which just comes naturally to actors, to people in general, and it was interesting to watch them purely focus on how to tell a story silently using only images. The exercise was effective to watch as we were shown the mistakes the actors were making and how to fix them or make it easier for ourselves, so that when it was my turn to do it I could use their performance to feed mine.
Artaud himself did use a lot of mask work during his performances and it was interesting to see how it linked with our work. One of Artaud's biggest theories was 'body over mind,' something we studied within the first week of experimental theatre work shop. Working with them masks practiced this theory to a high extent – without the use of facial expressions or dialogue, it really is imperative you use your body of your mind and create these clear images that portray to an audience the message you’re intending to give.
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