Behind the Mask (34/365)

The Masked Ball at the Opera by Edouard Manet, 1873

There is something about masks… they are so creepy and beautiful and transformative!

The Two Masks by Giorgio de Chirico, 1926

At the Capulets’ masquerade ball in Romeo and Juliet, we will all be wearing masks. And not just any dollar store masks either…

With designs by the amazing Tangle (of Entangled Puppetry), each character will have a mask that reflects an element of their familial allegiance (Capulet or Montague) and personality.

We began the process of making plaster casts of various cast member faces.

Lots of plaster, strips of various materials (gauze, industrial strength paper towels, brown paper), a fair amount of Vaseline and a great deal of patience and good humour were needed as we layered sticky strips on our prone victims.

Then it was my turn…

This, of course, is just step one. After these have dried we will begin the work of building the details, adding paint and decorative touches. I’ll post more photos as we make progress on this very cool project within a much larger very cool project. If you are anywhere near Canmore July 4-8 come and see both shows!! Romeo and Juliet will be performed in the evenings and The Apple Kingdom during the afternoons (cool mask alert – The Lizard looks amazing!!)

The Mask by Frida Kahlo, 1945

The Masked Visitor by Pieter Longhi, 1760