Masks have an extraordinary ability to evoke both fascination and fear. While their concealment and mystery can be unsettling, in the world of theatre, masks are powerful tools for transformation, storytelling, and connection. But what if we could harness that power not just for performance, but for learning and even for healing?

Commedia in the Drama Classroom. I never cease to be amazed by the power of the mask as an enabler. I firmly believe that masks are amongst the most effective tools for unlocking creativity and confidence. Time and time again, I see a shy, quiet student dare to don a mask and, before our eyes, transform into a bold, brash captain…

“I had been looking at the role of the comic servant in Commedia. In Flaminio Scala’s collection of scenarios from the 16th Century that role befell Pedrolino. He was featured more often than Arlecchino and was always at the centre of intrigues, such as lovers seeking help…”

This week’s objective: the sharpening of key mask skills. Focus - holding it, passing it - isolations, complicité, actor-audience dynamic. Precision and reining in the mask’s natural tendency to steal the limelight!

A warm shed, a case of masks and four players. Our next show is underway. What will it be? Nobody knows yet but follow our blogs to join us on the journey. This week James recounts the first day in the Lab.

We are very excited to announce the launch of a Neutral Mask that you can make at home or in class from a simple template created by my talented friends at Wintercroft Masks.

'Charging' the mask is a process of breathing life into it for performance. This is my ritual that allows me to step into the life of another, leaving ‘me’ behind in the wings. This spiritual process sometimes gets forgotten in the West, as we simply pick up the next mask, stick it on our face and step onto a stage.

You either have it or you don’t. That is what we are led to believe. Certain actors have the innate ability to compel without words, projecting an aura that makes an audience hold its breath.

Here’s a lockdown craft activity you can do at home or in the classroom - cardboard-make-your-own-commedia-dell-arte-masks!

After an arduous process of cleaning, stripping out old foam, replacing with closed-cell, non porous pads, sanitising and individually bagging my commedia masks, I was ready to enter the Covid-safe premises of Fourth Monkey Actor Training in London to deliver an intensive Commedia dell’Arte training project.

Since Covid-19 everyone is rightly nervous about putting something on their face that could potentially carry infection, so if ever there was a right time for cardboard-make-your-own-masks, it’s now!

We’re not sure when we will be able to get back into schools to lead workshops so we’re putting what we can online as a resource for teachers, students and others who may be interested. Obviously it is never quite as effective as being in the same room but we can try our best!

What image does the term ‘buffoon’ conjure for you? Is it a gormless, upper class ponce with very little intelligence? Is it our ludicrous leaders spouting absurdities and displaying ridiculous behaviour? It’s interesting how the word has changed its meaning over the years …

The show, improvised in nature, changes slightly every night which makes it constantly entertaining, challenging – and a tad risky!

Bouffon is in a league of it’s own; bouffon creates a fake grotesquery: characters that are so outrageously bizarre that they can’t relate to anything or anyone real. No one is offended because these absurdly contorted actors do not bear any immediate semblance to any human that we recognise;

The shed has become our second home, and something of a haven from the stresses of the outside world; a place where absurdity and hilarity are unleashed, and for the past few months it has been a hive of activity as we have been devising, honing and refining our new commedia dell’arte show, The Breath of Love……

Our kids are pushed to succeed in core subjects so that they are successful in life and, of course, these are important, but we all know that it takes more than maths and English qualifications to be successful….