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| October 2010 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| Masks in Drama |
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| The ancient Greeks held their dramas in large amphitheaters where the audience might be some distance from the actors. These actors wore large masks, with exaggerated expressions, often with concealed megaphones to magnify their voices, so they could be seen and heard in the last row. A smiling mask, representing comedy, together with a frowning mask, representing tragedy, came to be a common symbol for drama. When I was in my first year of college, I attended West Texas State University near my home. One of the plays we presented that year was J.B., by Archibald MacLeish, a modern-day retelling of the biblical story of Job. We staged the play in the Greek style, with the characters of Mr. Zuss and Nickles, representing God and Satan, wearing large masks and declaiming their lines in an exaggerated fashion. In our play, Zuss, wearing a large round mask like a sun, and Nickles, wearing a crescent mask with a pointed chin like a moon, discuss J.B., a wealthy banker. J.B. sees his prosperity as God’s reward for his faithfulness, but the cynical Nickles claims he will curse God if he loses everything. The rest of the play considers whether that claim is true. |
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| In our small-town high school, we only had teachers for the basic courses, but one year, the school hired a college student from nearby West Texas State University to teach drama. It was my introduction to a larger world of entertainment, acting and dance.
One of the plays we presented that year was in the commedia dell'arte tradition. In it, I played an old woman who sold masks. “New |
| faces for old,” I’d cry. And as the various characters in the drama put on their new “faces,” they became different characters, creating all sorts of confusion in the plot. Commedia dell’arte, or the Italian comedy, began in Italy in the mid-16th century. It was characterized by masked "types." It is notable that female roles were played by women as early as the 1560s. As popular in France as it was in Italy, it continued establishing its repertoire throughout the 17th century. |
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| Commedia dell'arte featured improvisation and stock characters identified by distinctive masks, costumes and props. Some of the better known characters include Columbine, a shrewd, coquettish maid; Pierrot, her clown lover with his white baggy costume with big buttons; Harlequin, a buffoon in a colorful diamond-patterned costume who wears a mask and carries a wooden sword; Columbine's father Pantalone, an old man in slippers, and the Doctor, a hopeless pedant. Pantalone inspired Shakespeare's character of Polonius in Hamlet, and other characters from the commedia became subjects for such visual artists as Cezanne and Picasso. |
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