Issue 5

Floraison Magazine 46

THEATRE THE MASK OF EMOTION “Give the man a mask and he will tell you the truth,” Oscar Wilde said. Still still associated with the pagan ritual of carnival, with the figure of the clown, when it does not become a sign of revolutionary rallying of collectives such as Anonymous, the mask draws its origin from the religious rites of ancient times. Present on all continents and across all civilizations, this object inseparable from the origins of theater and the Dionysiacs - who celebrated the gods through dance, music and tragedy - has however lost its aura on contemporary scenes. We invoke the mask at the turn of projects and for the meaning that it allows to add to the interpretation of a text or a character. More rarely for what it induces in the very art of the actor,in the practice of the spectacle or the relationship with the spectator, like an Omar Porras. In the 16th century, thecommedia dell'arte has established it as a trademark to sketch celebrities or freeze characters easily recognizable by the public. But because he is criticized for freezing the actor's acting, the quest for realism will eventually lead him away from the ambitions of a theater in full renewal. #1. Doubtless some ancient Greek has observed that behind the big mask and the speaking-trumpet, there must always be our poor little eyes peeping as usual and our timorous lips more or less under anxious control. - Author: George Eliot Studio Piet Boon Floraison Magazine 47

Floraison Magazine And it was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the mask was taken from purgatory by Jacques Lecoq, Giorgio Strehler, Antoine Vitez or Benno Besson, in close collaboration with factors who were able, for their part, to find techniques of manufacture sometimes forgotten (like the Sartori, father and son, in Italy) or bring it to new aesthetic continents, like the Swiss Erhard Stiefel, accomplice of Ariane Mnouchkine, or Werner Stub, faithful of Benno Besson. Omar Porras is one of the few contemporary designers for whom the mask is an essential element. In terms of aesthetics, in a theater that is often described as baroque because it likes to summon all the artifices and crafts of the stage, from machinery to costumes, including sets. In terms of acting, because this object - which conceals the face as much as it imposes the character of the character - forces the actor to draw his energy elsewhere. \"When we talk about my brother's work, we often refer to the commedia dell'arte because he uses masks and seeks to create archetypes\", confides Fredy Porras, faithful accomplice of the director who ensures the creation of the films. scenographies such as the making of the masks that appear, depending on the projects, in the shows of the Colombian.\"His theater is, in fact, a patchwork of many things which all have the same function: guiding the dramatic play, celebrating the theater, seeking the comic or the dramatic in the humanity that we bring on stage.\" 48

Thank you for reading our issue. We hope to see you for issue 6. Davani ISSUE 5 FLORAISON MAGAZINE