Hodder & Stoughton Educational
GCSE Drama for Edexcel
Masks

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• Greek Theatre. As the site says 'This is where it all began: the Theater of Dionysus in Athens. According to legend, late in the sixth century BCE a man named Thespis first had the idea to add speaking actors to the performances of choral song and dance which occurred on many occasions throughout Greece. (That's why actors are sometimes called 'thespians'.) Masked actors performed outdoors, in daylight, before audiences of 10,000 or more at festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of theater.'
• A Thumbnail History of Commedia d'ell Arte. This site offers a simple introduction to Commedia dell' Arte. As it says, 'beginning during the Renaissance and lasting into the eighteenth century, traveling troupes performed the Commedia dell' Arte, the Italian comedy. The company's ten or more actors each developed a specific type of character, such as the Captain, two old men (Pantaloon and the Doctor), the Zanni (valet-buffoons). Since all wore masks, their roles were eventually called masks. Along with these comic characters were the lovers. Female parts were originally played by men, but later played by females.'
• Masks.org claims that, 'access to world mask art provides a vital, humanizing education. It is through the powerful spirit of the "other" faces of diverse world cultures that we can learn and grow in understanding our own.'
• Trestle Theatre aims to produce radical popular theatre with an emphasis on visual and physical techniques including mask and animation
• Mask Making Basics This site offers written instructions on how to create your own Halloween type masks.
• Mask Making in Thailand Most visitors to Thailand have the opportunity to experience the masked "Khon" drama, a uniquely Thai version of the Indian "Ramayana" epic, with tales of gods of ferocious demons. Khon was originally developed as an exclusively Royal entertainment, popular at the courts of Ayutthaya and later of Rattanakosin. This site offers some excellent photgraphs of these masks together with some further background information.