FOREWORD
This book is dedicated to the face and the body.
The emotions and expressions in the human face and body are like a poem we always carry with us.
‘Physical poetry’ is a term I contemplated for some time; it expresses my fascination for the human body as sculpture in motion (a a drawing in space). Physical poetry is also what gives shape to Walking Faces, my mime performance theater collective since 2002. I have borrowed the name from Kenneth Patchen, a poet who painted faces in both images and text. In mime and dance I wish to let the body speak like emotions on a face.
When I was looking for a title for the research on masks I considered ‘A mask reveals’ and ‘We wear the face that suits’. Veiling and unveiling is a key point in emotion expression, and physical theater, and a mask can do both! Archetypes - masks, gestures, spine also gives away my strong fascination for physical theater and mask performance.
The face and the body are like a landscape, in which the backbone is the body's keyboard for expression. Face , body and backbone are in continu flux in order to express themselves And just like this research, it is not finite.
Sjoerd Schwibettus, September 2019
CREDITS
AUTHOR AND LEADING RESEARCH: Sjoerd Schwibettus
RESEARCH, contributions in research and writing from Datus Voorhorst, Frans Krom, and Emmy Chau.
DESIGNS and MAKING OF EMOTION MASKS: contributions from Emmy Chau, Kjell Weewer, Datus Voorhorst,
LAY OUT: Serena Kloet for her work on the graphic design,
DRAWINGS: Emmy Chau, EDITING: Emmy Chau, Rob Stoeckart
TRANSLATION in ENGLISH: Charlottte Bakker, with help of Thomas Viele
THANKS TO: feedback on background and thesis on Brecht from Inès Sauer; Maarten Lammers who facilitated and promoted the MasksMovedproject within ArtEZ (University of Arts, Arnhem), dr. Harry von Piekartz for his cooperation and joint research on emotion in face and body expressions,
THANKS TO: all participating students of the ArtEZ theater faculty Arnhem, students of Osnabruck, University of Applied Sciences, Physiotherapy department.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
INTRODUCTION AND STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH STORY
The first book MASKS MOVED originates
from the publication 'Maskers Bewogen', a publication in Dutch of a research
into emotion expressions and masks for
physical theater.(October 2015)
The writings from the first research are revised and renewed, and translated into English. All the extended data from testing have been summarized.
The second book ARCHETYPES, gestures, masks, spine is a further research on whole body expressions. It changes the perspective from the face to the whole-body and postural expressions and explains the spine as the keyboards of the body.
The new chapters give a complete sense of what is all related to expressions of face and body in science and the arts. Yes, science and the arts! They are both closely related and they cross pollunate here: the research involved both medical science (anatomy, physiotherapy, neurology) and the arts. My goal here is to connect and to give a full wide perspective on the subject.
I've designed the chapter division and the narrative along a dramaturgical structure of the aristotelian theater story. This is partly odd, since I am myself a post modern mime theater teacher and performer. One would expect a different structure according to the Semantics: all the tokens or signs have their own autonomous meaning and there is only a story when the audience makes it herself.
But then the nature and context of the subject and the research quest are in line with an Aristotelian narrative: after all, it concerns a research into emotion expressions, masks for physical theater, into postural expressions and the physical act(gestus) and corporeal mime, and that leads us back into history.
Put back in the tradition of our oldest theater in the West, we end up with the Greek tragedy. The mask has been known since the time of Aeschylus in the sixth century AD as one of the characteristics of classical Greek theater. Masks were also used in worshiping Dionysos, and this is probably how it began as a tradition. Aristotle (388-322 BC) exposed the structure of the Greek drama in his Poetica: tragedy and comedy were said to trigger a catharsis through the incidents that evoke emotion. This framework is still an important issue in present-day narratives and drama.
The concluding chapters in this book lead back to the origin of the physical theater and the mask: the Greek Tragedy and Comedy, Ancient Roman Atelian Comedy, the Commedia dell'arte, and the founders and innovators of the new theater in the previous 2 centuries to the present.
How modern mime and modern physical theater manifest themselves in this 'postmodern' era, I place explicitly in the analysis of the mime theater of Etienne Decroux. The exercises, the viewpoints, the transformation: they have been part of the application of the new family of emotion masks.
The new emotion masks are really from this 'facetagging' and new media time and can easily be embedded in the underlying history of Greek theater up to and including Commedia dell'arte and Stanislavski and Brecht. The insight and turning points in the research gradually brought this to light.
EXPLANATION OF THE REFERRED TERMS IN ARISTOTELIAN STRUCTURE
'Tragedy' and 'comedy' are a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences. It refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization.
'Plot' (intrigue) - The sequence of the series of events in the story is the plot. In our quest or research we wanted to design masks for theater play based on the 21 universal expressions of emotion. The series of events are the design of 3 series of masks, putting them to the test and the discovery of what an emotion expression really is and how the tradition of physical theatre plays a part in it.
'Triadic structure' is, as the name suggests, a structure consisting of three parts.
It simply means that a story must have a beginning, middle and end. In the Aristotelian story structure this can be found in 3 acts and seven phases can be distinguished.
'Anagnorisis' refers to a moment when a character discovers an important piece of information. It is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery and it acompanies the reversal of the situation in the plot, the peripeteia. It is powerful in that it can bring about a "peripety" that brings about a sudden turn of events.
'Peripeteia' is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point; a change by which the action veers round to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity. The (re) discovery of the archetype when playing and applying the latest series of masks is such a turning point.
'Hamartia' is often referred to as tragic flaw and has many examples throughout literature, especially in Greek tragedy. We can define the tragic flaw of Oedipus that he was hasty in temper; of Macbeth that he was ambitious; of Othello that he was proud and jealous. It also states that the character is "missing the mark." Harmartia is described as causing problems where they were not intended or expected. Harmatia is harm......committed in ignorance. So where do we find the tragic flaw in our story? Or is the tragic flaw mainly in the emotion mask itself?
'Deux ex machina' - “God from the machine" is a plot device in which a person or thing appears "out of the blue" to help a character to overcome a seemingly insolvable difficulty. The divine out of the blue intervention can be seen in this story in the sudden recollection of images in recordings of mime actor Jan Bronk: an enormous history of the mask and face and mime theater emerged: the neutral mask of Jacques LeCoq and the piece of fabric covering device from Etienne Decroux and also the Commedia dell'arte masks and masks from designers Sartori. In fact, my entire education and mime theater world came to my aid! It helped us with a better understanding to design the emotion mask. The revelation of the mimetheater, how the mask is connected to the physical act and how it works on stage gave the design the defined perspective it needed.
'Catharsis': The word means “purging,” and Aristotle seems to be employing a medical metaphor—tragedy (and comedy but then with laughter and joy) arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to purge away their excess, to reduce these passions to a healthy, balanced proportion.
Here it shows what insight arises from this search for emotion masks
The discovery of the emotion masks in present-day science and theater research, leads us to a historical line and gives us a view on it through its various perspectives.
It is up to the reader to become convinced and to view this theater art expression of today's mask theater play in a new light.
- Act 1 - the function of the first act is the exhibition:
the protagonist, the antagonist and all other characters are introduced in the exhibition. The purpose of the protagonist also becomes clear, which starts the plot.
The protagonist here is the search itself. The members of the research group are supporting characters. The antagonists are the difficulties in achieving the effective design of the emotion masks and getting the other related subjects from both science and the arts on board like the whole-body expressions, exercises and realtionships. In the 'Exposition': plot, context and circumstances are laid out: what is going on and especially how all the different subjects relate to eachother. The 'incentive moment': (incitation) is the end of the introduction and where the story begins with the first idea to create emotion masks for the theater and to form a research group for design.
CONTENT – CHAPTERS
· Forword, credits.
· Accountability and introducing structure of the research story tale in chapters.
· Content in HEADINGS- chapters in HEADINGS. Paragraphs with asterix.
ACT ONE - rising action
1. EXHIBITION: De protagonist is hier de zoektocht zelf. De onderzoeksgroepleden zijn ondersteunende personages.
2. INCENTIVE MOMENT ( inciting incident): The trigger for the research was a newspaper article headlining Human Faces can express at least 21 distinct emotions 3. RESEARCH PNAS ARTICLE 4. MASKS SERIES 1 - CLIMAX ACT ONEACT TWO - rising action
5. DEUX EX MACHINA: - JAN BRONK, - STUDY OF THEATER TRADITION: how did they work before, how was a mask made, Sartori but also Jacques LeCoq and articulations of expression in face and whole body.
6. 21 EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTION: WHAT IS AN EMOTION? We needed more information and Ekman, Darwin guided us.
7. FACS AND AUs: Analyse en anatomy: the coordinates and lines in the face, how does it work?
8. MASKS SERIES 2, MIDDLE ACT 2
9. ARCHETYPES
10. MASKS DISPUTE: Feedback and looking into theater tradition, FACS and AU'S again: what are we missing
11. EXERCISES IN PHYSICAL THEATER AND MASK PLAY
12. HAMARTIA - TRAGIC FLAW - HOW DOES PHYSICAL PLAY WITH MASKS WORK?
13. MASKS SERIES 3, CLIMAX ACT 3
ACT THREE - falling action
14. PERIPETEIA (turning point): - Inzicht in en ontdekking van archetype and stilering van de vlakken van het gezicht.
15. DENOUEMENT (resolution - decomposition) - WHAT - WHO - WHY - WHEN - WHERE AND PHYSICAL MEMORY: looking back and analyses on its motives and how it links to physical theater.
16. ARCHETYPES WHOLE BODY EXPRESSIONS- NEW - CONTINUATION OF RESEARCH - 17. ON FACIAL AND POSTURAL EXPRESSIONS, from emotions in the face to expression of the body
18. MIME - ETIENNE DECROUX: CORPOREAL MIME TECHNIQUE AND ITS PHILOSOPHY
19. EPILOGUE 1: back into theater history: Commedia dell 'Arte - '3planks,2 actors, 1emotion'
20. EPILOGUE 2: back into history of 19e and 20e century theater reformers. The gestus - the physical act is main focus.
21. BACK INTO HISTORY: the tradition on masks and mask play leads back to the beginning.
ACT ONE - RISING ACTION
HUMAN FACES CAN EXPRESS AT LEAST 21 DISTINCT EMOTIONS
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES HAPPY, SAD, FEARFUL, ANGRY, SURPRISED, DISGUST?
HUMAN FACES CAN EXPRESS AT LEAST 21 DISTINCT EMOTIONS Reading the small article in the newspaper - Human face shows 21 emotions – touched something profound in me. An April Fool's joke, I thought, because in the Netherlands it was published on April 1. The article referred to the scientific publication Compound facial expressions of emotion* by Shichuan Du, Yong Tao, and Aleix M. Martinez.
http://time.com/43758/human-faces-can-express-at-least-21-distinct-emotions/
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE BESIDES HAPPY, SAD, FEARFUL, ANGRY, SURPRISED, DISGUST?
I have been a theater maker, dancer-mime artist, teacher and I have worked with body language and facial expressions for years. What did I really know about emotion and its expression? How is body language involved in this?
Up until that point I could not, when considering it briefly, come up with more than a few emotions. When I asked others about it, they could not think of more than 4 or 5 emotions either. A theater maker should, especially thinking of mask performance and grotesque clowning, be able to express beyond these few. Thus far I have been a professional when it comes to physical expression, mask performance, movement and dance, but what do I really know about emotions? And how can there be so many (universal!) emotions – expressions of emotions?
So what else is there besides happy, sad, surprised, fearful, angry and disgusted? Around the turn of the century I decided that, after years of working as mime actor, producer and teacher, I wanted to focus on visual art as autonomous discipline. Until then, I thought of it as a logical and natural discipline any mime player/producer should include in the mix. What’s different is the autonomous approach. For a year I made many ceramic heads, expressions. Part of it was therapeutic. There were so many expressions, so many people in my mind. After over 80 heads I quieted down. I believe we all carry many expressions, many people around with us. I think this accumulated memory continuously plays a part in our imagination: we remember the physical actions that are so strongly linked to everyone’s expression and emotions as one.
2. INCENTIVE MOMENT -
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21 EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTION IN MASKS
RESEARCHGROUP |
I couldn’t wait to try out these 21 expressions of emotion for myself! The newspaper article spawned the first idea to create emotion mask for the theater. Would these ‘emotion masks’ change the way for acting and could they have a bigger range compared to other masks? I shared this idea with several visual and physical theater artists and the following plan ensued:
- Study, design and creation of emotion masks for 21 expressions of emotion, based on the 21 described facial expressions and coded Action Units (AU) according to the system of FACS (Facial Action Coding System).
- Research of the emotion masks on stage, through recording, observations and maskplay improvising.
A new series of masks based on the 21 universal emotions could yield a bigger range for training actors and for physical theater. After all, many more expressions of emotion are suddenly available because they are distinctive and universally recognizable. They signify a great palette and nuance because of their combination of internal differences and struggle. A bigger range could also lead to a greater stratification in a performance, more nuanced and with increased possibilities for change and meaning, a larger spectrum of transformation and opposition. It also brings a fresh view of masks and their physical play, because traditional mask play is not focused on expression of emotion, but often works with other approaches through examples and intended imagination.
How can a mask maker capture an expression? Are the given insights into expressions of emotion like a different technique, articulation and approach needed for a transcending expression?
How have mask makers, mask performers and physical theater professionals handled this so far? How are masks made anyway? Based on insight into emotion and expression, I thought.
Would that not change in light of the current understanding that there are 21 universally recognizable emotions? The human artistic effort in portraying dramatic scenes, covering myriad emotions and situations, did not fail to understand or capture what we now know through the progress of science; actually it turns out that artists most of all came closer to reveal and zoom in on those expressions.
The search begins in the summer of 2014 with the formation of a research group:
- Sjoerd Schwibettus/ mime performer, dancer, visual artist, teaches theater making ArtEZ Art School,
- Datus Voorhorst/ doctor, nuclear physician, visual artist,
- Kjell Weewer/ visual artist, graphic designer, chef,
- Emmy Chau/ doctor, anatomy teacher, visual artist,
- Frans Krom/ theater mask maker, drama teacher
3. PNAS RESEARCH
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - 13 MARCH 2014
UNIVERSAL EMOTION
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - 21 MARCH 2014
The article Human face shows 21 emotions referred to a publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of 13 March 2014. In Compound facial expressions of emotions Ohio State University researchers determine there are 21 universally recognizable facial expressions! The question came to me immediately: could I translate that into a new, big family of masks? Could those masks add value to mask-physical theater? Could the complex compound expressions of emotions yield a larger range for physical theater? Could this approach – of expressions of emotions to masks – mean a new perspective, a re-evaluation, an improvement on theatrical masks and their physical play?
Starting in April of 2014, I began looking for the ins and outs of all of this, and composed a research group made up of people from the world of theater, visual arts, medicine, and mask professionals. We put the theory to the test in front of a mirror and a video camera. All described and defined universal expressions of emotion from the above mentioned PNAS publication were evoked in front of the mirror and we filmed these expressions successively like a continuously changing flow of emotions, in one take. I also started digging and reading: Darwin, Paul Ekman, and many others. The following year, three series of masks were designed based on the findings of compound facial expressions of emotions.
For the designs we looked carefully at which muscle contractions cause changes in the face and how the expression of emotion in fact took shape, anatomically and from the emotion itself. The designed series of masks evolved after practical testing on the theater floor. The question during these tests was also this: which style of expressivity is best suited to do justice to the masks with their expression of emotion and let meaning ‘work’ in a transcending way. The masks were each tried out several times with students of the Theater faculty of ArtEZ school of Arts in Arnhem (the Netherlands), where I have taught movement techniques, performance, and theater science since 1977.
CHANGEABLE LIKE A WEATHER VANE
‘He is as changeable as a weather vane’ What a wonderful expression! A capricious person whose mood constantly changes. Do our emotions change constantly? And how do we express them? The English language has many ways to capture emotions: everyone has a few ‘things that make their hair stand on end’, or what about getting ‘goggle-eyed’, ‘tongue-tied’ or ‘goose bumps’? Have you ever ‘turned your nose up at something’, or do you ‘keep a stiff upper lip’ and ‘keep your chin up’? A variety of emotions help us give direction to our behavior and communication. But what exactly is emotion?
UNIVERSAL EMOTION
As recently as the 1960’s and 1970’s a commonly held belief was that emotions stem from cultural environment. For a long time, gestures and facial expressions were thought of as culturally determined. Darwin’s 100-year-old research shows that emotional expressions are not socially determined, but rather universally given. His research ‘The expression of emotions in man and animals’* was published in 1872. The latest edition was published in 2009 as part of UNESCO’s “Darwin 200” commemoration.
Paul Ekman, psychologist and pioneer in the field of emotion and facial expression research, has annotated this edition and thereby given it a new dimension. In his annotations, Ekman describes much of his own research into emotion and how expressions of emotion can be put into context. Among other things, he relates how every culture has rules for expression, different sets of guidelines for controlling and regulating the expression of emotions. For example, our culture obliges us to be graceful about losing a match and happily congratulate the winner. There are also great differences between East and West: for example, Asian people look at a face differently, they focus more on the part with the nose, where in the West, people focus alternately on the eyes and mouth.* For more examples, see Paul Ekman and John Cleese in the BBC documentary The Human Face 2013.*
IN THE WAITING ROOM, PERSPECTIVES FROM PHYSICAL THEATER
Ask anyone where his focus is when he looks at someone, and he will most likely tell you that his focus is, of course, their eyes. It is polite and shows sincerity. You might also want to show you wish to see the other’s reaction. You want to compel the other to speak, you want to get (better) acquainted, or you want to show dominance. Eye contact can give someone a sense of belonging. In many Asian and African cultures prolonged eye contract is considered rude. But the one thing we avoid saying is that we also (want to) look at other parts of the body. In physical theater and especially mime, we exploit this and it is a much-used idea for theatrical performance. We play a scene in the waiting room: each enters in turn and nobody knows the others. This is stressfull. Where are we allowed to look without offending anyone? We say hello and in doing so also comply with the rules for expression of gestures and emotion. Not too much, not too little. With due modesty, no intimate approach, no searching glances towards the body. It is an acted scene; whether in the theater or in a book it feels safe. After all, it’s only fiction. The scene can be played in different ways: grotesquely, like a slapstick, small underacting, realisticly, etc. It can be played using only text or expressly no lines at all. This way face, gestures and body language have to work harder. Style or manner do not matter here, it is about perspective.
We will most likely see a lot of eye movement, glances in every direction, a presence that constantly wants to reach out to the other but at the same time yearns to crawl back into its cocoon. We will probably see awkward gestures, what do I do with my hands? Where do I focus my gaze? Will I sit up straight, with my legs apart or crossed? And what will the others think of what I do? Most likely we also see that there is as much distance between each person as possible, and only when there is no other option will a new person entering the room sit down right next to another. The farthest seat from everyone else is the best one, so everyone can keep the maximum amount of personal space. The greeting space – distance to each other – is different everywhere. Every culture also has different personal space. Greetings are a joy to study. Why do the Dutch give three kisses in greeting? And why are Americans so overly jovial when they say hello, like they have been your friend for years?
I am a theater maker, mime player and dancer which is why I am fascinated by human behavior. I observe it expressly to capture it in a mirroring medium, to set the world at an angle as it were and give the audience an experience that moves them and sets them free. I employ every sign we use in our expression. I reflect on the power of wonderment and the dynamics of our human world.
Capturing the unwritten rules, behavior driven by taboo, forbidden acts, showing what everyone wants but cannot have, exposing a deeper want, fear, wonderment, etc., the gut feeling, the maladapted, the ones denouncing power and the powerlessness, the underdog and humanity, subtexts (everything that is meant but not said), the dilemma of man in his own behavior, any producer of theater keeps all these things in mind when working from observation with his translation in the theatrical medium. This also applies to other disciplines. In doing this we hope to get a peek behind reality and come into contact with another perspective from where we can be amazed and appreciated.
4. MASKS SERIES 1 CLIMAX
SCULPTED HEADS -
DESIGN AND OBSERVATIONS IN THEATERPLAY
FRAMEWORK
OBSERVATIONS
SCULPTED HEADS
In 2 sessions the 18 masks serie 1 are introduced to 24 students at ArtEZ university of the Arts, Arnhem, department for drama and education. The masks are grouped on the floor in the following way:
- 6 basic exprpressions of emotion: happy, sad, surprised, angry, fearful, disgusted;
- 3 compound expressions of emotion masks with angry and fearful: sadly angry, sadly fearful, fearfully angry
- 5 compound expression masks with surprised: happily surprised, sadly surprised, angrily surprised, fearfully surprised, disgustedly surprised;
- 4 compound emotion masks with disgust: happily disgursted, sadly disgusted, angrily disgusted, fearfully disgusted.
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When
Datus works on a sculpture, he spends a lot of time on the facial features
which have a huge impact on the sculpture's power of expression. Studying
and creating masks fits well with his interest and passion to build
realistic grotesque historical figures.
Datus drew for his series 1 and 2 masks from The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression, descriptions by Darwin and Ekman, but also studies with his own face in the mirror, after the artists tradition of old days. It strikes him how emotions are hearth felt when practicing in the mirror and in creating the masks. It refers to our mirror neurons. His first design is a naturalistic representation. |
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Frans Krom visites the first workshops when the series 1 is introduced, and find the masks impressive, powerful and esthetically pleasing. Many participants(volonteers and students) find the masks sculpted heads. We recognize Datus as the creator in the faces and all masks seem to have a masculine character. It makes the series 1 almost too personal to be masks for play. The expression is constructed too psychologically. All the signs of the emotion have been put in to the mask, but they do not merge into fully expressing the emotion. The masks appeal to a kind of stereotypes, not yet to full-fledged characters or archetypes with their own autonomous expression. |
FRAMEWORK
First the masks are observed in pairs, sitting on the floor. Students are taking turns for wearing the mask and writing down notes. They are asked to describe, associate and provide characterization images. Any association is allowed as observation. The name for the emotion is not mentioned to exclude thinking and filling out expected answers.
After first obeservations, short improvisations are done in random pairs. For some students it is their first time playing masks. The majority have some experience from the Commedia dell’Arte lessons and the so-called Basel or Larval masks. (see Epilogue chapters Shrovetide and Jacq Lecoq' keymasks)
The rules for the paired theaterplay improvisations are based on two main principles: transformation and magnification. It starts out very basic and is nuanced during play. It is about becoming aware of how the mask speaks and stay in the here and now and letting the mask come to life. These rules are recognized by many and indeed generally observed, however, my experience in teaching clown and mask play teaches me to specify them. The framework is needed to allow every aspect like space and dynamics to be clear. The transformation is made visible from the back of the stage on a flat floor; it brings the masked actor focus and intention in ‘the now’ with audible breathing. The first authentic material is repeated and enlarges and magnifies in intention, dynamics, shape and space.
As we progress with observations and play of the masks, the need is felt to give more input with exercises for mask play to get more clarity in play for the actor. The result is a more qualified level of mask acting which gives a qualified test. More and more I realize that the research is not only on designing emotion-masks but also how to position it in the tradition of mime and physical theater. We need to capture the specific theaterframework of physical theater and maskplay and expertise is needed in this context,
When they are all put together, the masks are distinct, have a powerful expression and differ from the others. They contain a lot of information in colors, lines, volume, teeth, wrinkles. There are remarkable differences in color and wrinkles in the masks. The shape of the head is an essential part of its expression. The masks appear to be profiles, characterizations of expressions. The expressions seem to be a reaction to something. The emotion is represented realistically.
The mask heads evoke personages, characters. They show extreme expressions of emotions. In about 75% of the descriptions the words emotion, grotesque or magnified expressions are mentioned. In observations students write that they see ‘emotion in the expression’, that the ‘expressions are sculpted’. Words like ‘colorful’, ‘very recognizable’, ‘universal’, ‘distinct’ were mentioned several times. Some refer to Lord of the Rings figures, elves. Many references to actual persons or existing stories and situations are made. A dozen times someone mentiones a likeness to actual people. The expressions are interpreted as characters’ histories.
The maleness of the masks is lost in play. There even appears to be a distinctly feminine mask: happily surprised. The short improvisations are disorganized and lack further definition. At the beginning, the inexperience with mask play leads to an overdose of physical acting. This means the physical grotesque is more expressive than the mask. Especially the concentration and taking time for the transformation itself gives direction and allowes the masks to speak from their own expression.
Acting small, intimate and authentic, with audible breathing, chosing space, and maintaining the initial impulse as leading motive in the encounter let the masks come alive.
The compound expressions in the emotion masks are definitely more ambiguous and complex. This is expressed
through more discrepancy in acting.
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