Mask Improvisation for Actor Training and Performance: The Compelling Image

by Sears Eldredge

Northwestern University Press, 1996
Paper: 978-0-8101-1365-7
Library of Congress Classification PN2071.M37E43 1996
Dewey Decimal Classification 792.028

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Because mask improvisation work is relatively new in American theater training, this book is designed not only to acquaint readers with the theory of mask improvisation but to instruct them in the techniques of method as well.

Featuring dozens of improvisational exercises in the innovative spirit of Viola Spolin, and supplemented with practical appendices on mask design and construction, forms and checklists, and other classroom materials, this book is an invaluable tool for teacher and student alike, as well as compelling reading for anyone interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of masks as agents of transformation, creativity, and performance.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Sears A. Eldredge has developed and taught mask improvisation in the United States and in England for the past twenty years. He is currently Professor of Dramatic Artts and Chair of the Dramatic Arts & Dance Department at Macalester College.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Exercises
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Prologue

Part I: Introduction
1. The Ubiquitous Mask
2. Masks in Western Theatre
3. Mask Improvisation: An Introduction
4. Getting Started
5. The Lesson of the Mask
6. Masks and Countermasks

Part II: The Neutral Mask
7. The Concept of Neutral
8. The Neutral Mask Identifications
9. Continuing Identification Exercises

Part III: The Character Masks
10. The Beginning Character Masks
11. The Countermask
12. The Life Masks
13. The Totem Masks
14. The Found Object Masks
15. The Complex Character Mask

Part IV: The Application of Mask Improvisation Training
16. Masks and Faces
17. Mask Theatre

Appendices
Appendix A: Mask Design and Construction
Appendix B: Mask Templates
Appendix C: Forms and Handouts

Notes
Bibliography

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