Research
Today in class we were asked to research the use of masks in Greek Theater, and to replicate our own. In order to get a better understanding of our task, I did some online research to help understand the concept and ideas more so than before. In Greek theater, actors would need to play multiple roles. To save time and costumes, masks were created to help aide the actors by allowing them to change their roles and characters much more easily (Vovolis and Zamboulakis).There were typically three actors and all were men (Karayannakos). The masks were claimed to have let the audience focus on the actors actions, rather than on their physical features (Karayannakos). The masks however, would not have been distorted but realistic and proportional to a civilian's face. The mask would have three openings, two for the eyes and one for the mouth. The mask was then worn with a wig made out of animal or human hair (Karayannakos). All the masks were made out of a light weight linen, leather, or wood material (McManus). A stone face was used for a mold to make the masks (Karayannakos). However, one detail that struck me was that each mask portrayed similar characteristics having certain features replicated. A better way of explaining it is there would be no random masks. Characters classified within the same age division or gender all had the same aspects included within the masks (McManus). Therefore, one could not just design any mask of their choice as it would have to include multiple traits. For instance, male masks had yellow or brown skin color, while female masks had white skin color. Women would have long haired wigs typically, however half length represent women in mourning and very short wigs represented a woman being a slave (McManus). Facial hair was also very important within masks, as it indicated certain personalities of characters for the audience. All men had short hair, the length of their beard represented how old they were (Vovolis and Zamboulakis). Young men were left beardless, men in their prime were fully bearded and had yellow or brown hair. Old men had grey bearded and were left bald (McManus). Overall, masks played a huge part in Greek theater. As time went on, masks would spark the development of theater for generations to come, transforming into costumes and props.Without masks, Greek theater or even today's modern arts and drama would not been as they are. Masks have helped develop and transformed theater into a revolutionary art and tradition.
Work Sited
Karayannakos, Elias. "Masks in Ancient Greek Theatre" ["Masks in Ancient Greek
Theatrel"]. Greek Theater. N.p., 2007. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. <http://www.greektheatre.gr/greek_theater_masks.html>.
McManus, Barbara F. "Staging, Actors, Masks" ["Staging, Actors, Masks"].
Staging, Actors, Masks. CLS 267 Topics Page, Sept. 1999. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. <http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tragedy_staging.html>
Vovolis, Thanos, and Giorgos Zamboulakis. "The Acoustical Mask of Greek Tragedy" ["The Acoustical Mask of Greek Tragedy"]. Didaskalia. Randolph Collage, 1994. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <http://www.didaskalia.net/issues/vol7no1/
vovolis_zamboulakis.html>.
This is excellent.
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