Artsource
THEATRE MUSIC ®
The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
THE HUMAN FAMILY
THE POWER OF NATURE
assuming the character expressed in each face. A variety
Title of Work:
of characters springs to life, including some who speak,
“The Mask Messenger”
wearing Commedia dell’Arte style half-masks. Full
Creator:
masks are sometimes worn on the top or back of the
Producer: Faustwork Mask Theater Artistic Director: Robert Faust b. 1950
head, transforming the performer into creatures on all fours or creating distortions that baffle the eyes and
Background Information:
tickle the funny bone. Through the parade of almost
Robert Faust, actor, athlete, dancer, choreographer and
twenty characters, the audience will also glimpse
mask-maker, is the founder and Artistic Director of
human nature at its silliest and most poignant.
Faustwork Mask Theater. Born and raised in New Orleans, he experienced the color and pageantry of
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture:
Mardi Gras throughout his childhood, youth and college
Robert Faust is interested in the emotional content
years. Through his studies he discovered mask-making
and movement possibilities inherent in a mask. His
and came to realize that the carnival characters that
mask-making evolves from one of two processes. He
annually paraded the streets of his hometown were actually
may begin improvising in clay, forming the structure of
works of art rooted in theatrical traditions. In 1980,
a face. A certain feature or feeling emerges, and he
he joined Pilobolus Dance Theater as a performer and
follows it to complete the mask. Or he might have an
choreographer, later serving in these capacities for the
idea for a specific character and try to capture the
renowned
He founded
character’s tension and emotion using line and shape.
Faustwork Mask Theater in 1983, creating and producing
Once the mask is finished, he must ‘listen’ to the mask,
The Mask Man, The Mask Messenger, Faustwork In
allowing the visual image to translate into body movement.
Concert, and Cello Man. Mr. Faust makes all the masks
Mr. Faust begins his rehearsals with a mirror. After he
used in Faustwork’s performances. He has also created
has a grasp of the physical look of the mask, he turns
masks for The Opera Ensemble of New York, A.C.T.,
away from the mirror and
Pilobolus, Momix and Kirk Company’s Miss Spider’s
works from inside himself,
Wedding.
using his memory of the image
Martha Clarke Company.
to evoke the inner life of the
About The Artwork:
character.
The Mask Messenger is a solo performance about masks
Connecticut
that simultaneously entertains and educates. The set is a wall of masks exhibited at the center of the stage. After a brief introduction about masks throughout the world, the performer begins to demonstrate his power by removing the masks from the wall one by one, and
Photo: Gary Gunderson
“A mask is a megaphone to the soul, to the emotions, amplifying what is going on inside.” Robert Faust
New Orleans, LA