Their physicality must be very clean, and naturalistic at the same time. Some of the actors like the masks, others don't. And they can limit your sight lines, because the eyeholes are so small. Little things, like trying to put your foot up on a bench, become a hassle. By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin Debra Mirante, Ray Scheele and Jacqueline Maly, left to right, loom over set designer and mask maker Michael Harada at the Little Theater.
Some actors have to wear as many as four masks through play.
That calls for some rugged mask work. Once the character and the expression are designed, the mask is cast in a plaster mold. Usually, we use papier mache, but lately I've been using a neoprene latex material from Chicago that air-dries into something quite tough and flexible, and it takes acrylic paint really well. It sets up like 'slip' in ceramics in about four hours, then we pour back the excess. We haven't had one fail yet.