Masks

     In class we discussed many possible uses and reasons for the masks in theater. We only really discussed the good uses for the masks. Masks may make the audience feel more connected to the actor. It's easier to picture themselves in the place of the character. It also keeps the actor from getting in the way of the portrayal of the character. Actors are able to take on the roll of the mask and be something they might not normally.

     Actors taking on the roll of the mask can also be a con to the mask. There is a very big possibility of the actor loosing himself. He can become so wrapped up in the character that he looses part of who he is. There's a line in a song that I absolutely love that I think fits here:

“You're suffocating me, so very hard to breathe.

My mask is growing heavy, but I've forgotten who's beneath.”

     This seems to me exactly what we do in today's society. We put on our mask. For one reason or another, we want to appear to be something that we're not. It's usually to please an audience. Then we begin to become the character that we have been portraying. We loose ourselves. I think sometime we (actors and regular people) need to take off the mask and create our own interpretation of our character.