What is a theatre mask?

Lion King. Wonderheads. Commedia. Greek. Noh. Bali. All theatre masks, and all wildly different from each other.

What I'm into: human, playful/expansive, comic.

Lecoq styles

A few of the styles that come out of Jacques Lecoq's pedagogy — the tradition I trained in.

Neutral Mask

I've seen some, but I'm biased about the originals because those are the ones I played. You need to see these babies in action to get why they're shaped the way they are. They're heightened but somehow blank. Leading the movement towards a clarity and simplicity, without opinion. Strange and touching when it works. Lifting space into a realm of forms.

"Neutrality" I think refers to the blank canvas nature of the masks. They don't have a history, and so meet each moment directly.

Larval Mask

Quiet and innocent, somehow. Bold shapes, soft edges. Suggesting bold and simple movement.

Larval Masks (or Basel Masks) originated as part of a Swiss carnival tradition and were later adopted by Jacques Lecoq into his physical training pedagogy. Larval Masks are typically large and simple shapes with the suggestion of expression, and in the pedagogy of mask they are the next step in evolution from the neutral mask but are not yet a fully developed character. The nature of these masks demand economy, simplicity and amplification of movement. They are naive and full of wonder and ask the actor to be open to moment-to-moment discoveries while examining the possibilities of shape, geometric life and rhythm in the body.

— Wonderheads

(Open question: where do helmet masks fit here — same family as Wonderheads' masks? Worth sorting out.)

Full Mask

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Half Mask

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Clown Nose

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