Trance Masks and Workshops

Further research in masks and performance led me to Keith Johnstone, a British/Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre. He believes that wearing a mask is a powerful way to unlock creativity and to discover how to be expressive.

Johnstone teamed up with Steve Jarand a puppeteer and mask worker and set out Trance Mask Workshops. 

In their workshops they approach mask exercises to help train feeling rather than thinking, instinct over planning and reacting instead of acting

The Trance Mask workshop uses half a mask, the Trance Mask covers only the top part of the face leaving the mouth free, since sound is one of the central tools used to activate the mask.

The wearer starts to become the mask, their body language and whole persona mimics what the mask brings, with the mouth free to create animation and noise the wearer loses themselves and becomes someone else.