Maschere Teatrali Cles –––– Creating a profound connection for actors and the theatrical’s character, shaping their own mask.
01. THE PROBLEM
The collective social theatre in Cles (Trentino, Italy) decided they wanted to build the masks to use during their theatric piece Re Cervo (King Deer) so that the show could be tailored uniquely for the show.
They contacted Centocani – a Milan based artistic and cultural association that develops workshops on mask making – to teach and support the actors building the masks, during a 3 days workshop. I assisted them, as guest of the association.
02. THE SPECIFIC SOLUTION
During the workshop, leather masks were build from scratch, tailored and finalised in their wearability, leather surface treatment, paint and hairs.
I helped and assisted both Centocani and the actor’s team while they were going through the different phases of the mask’s making of: preparation of tools and leather, cutting and placing the leather piece on the matrix, leather shaping and surfaces treatment.
Eleven masks were created uniquely for the show: each actor built is own mask, thus entering even more into their character.
03. THE OUTCOME
Seeing all the stages and customising all feature to accommodate the personality behind the mask to match the fictional character, was unique for the actor’s confidence on stage.
