Theatre mask making Summer Lab 2025
July 14-23 ? 21-30? something in between?
When we wear a mask, our body and the way we shape it is already telling a lot about the character we are playing. The relationship between this character and life, its age, the speed of reaction to an event, the way it stands and the way it relates to the theatrical space, can be enough to tell a story.
Covering our face with a mask makes us unable to express through the convention of words and language. Using the body and the projection of the mask are the only tools we have left to play.
This workshop is intended for beginners (also with no previous experience) and professionals that would like to dive deeper in physical theatrical play.
Whether you are an actor, artist, circus performer, dancer, mover of any kind or interested in becoming that, you are very welcome to join.
During these days we will give you the base for mask making as well as mask playing.
We will explore the theatrical principles of how to wear a mask and how to use your body in service of the shape you are playing.
Each participant will have the chance to build one mask, sculpted in clay and finalized in papier–mâché.
The workshop will be held in English. With German floating around us. A basic understanding of the English language is required.
Movement and theater
The physical part of the training will be about the use of full expressive masks and silent play.
Through theater exercises of mask technique and improvisations, we will explore the world of silence and shapes to better understand how to embody a sentiment and how “to play” it.
The main topics we will touch are:
– The concept of dramatic space and dramatic relationship
– The masked body: Shapes and undulation in movement.
– The projection of the mask and its articulation
– The silent play: Improvisation and silent storytelling
The masks used in the training are created by us, Francesco Procopio, Nikos Wölfl and/or other mask makers in the frame of the Atelier Mask Movement directed by Matteo Destro.
Mask making
Starting from simple structures we will learn to see the projection of the mask in the clay before we sculpt it.
In a process based on intuition and trial and error, we will come closer and closer to the shape of the mask, respecting the dynamics between the different features that all together define how we perceive the mask as a face.
We will talk a lot about planes, volumes and lines, projections and expressivity, which are concepts you’ll be introduced to during the workshop.
If you have never touched clay before and consider yourself rather not as a talented craftsperson, don’t be afraid. Your natural human perception is much more helpful in building a good mask than trained sculptor hands.
Teachers
Francesco Procopio is a circus artist, teacher, actor, and director based in Berlin.
His artistic education is a mix of different influences, circus and theater are his main passions. After graduating from circus school (CAU – Granada) and the Atelier Mask Movement of Matteo Destro (S. Miniato – Italia) he performed in several shows, mostly self-produced, from street to stage performances in theaters and circus. In the last years he regularly taught movement theater, masks and circus in various organizations and projects around Europe. For more info you can visit: concretotheatre.eu
Nikos Wölfl is a sculptor, pedagogue and mask maker based on Gut Alaune.
After an apprenticeship in classical wood sculpting in the Alps, he worked as a scenographer and puppet maker in a small puppet theater. He studied sculpturing in Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, mask making – and playing at the Atelier Mask Movement of Matteo Destro (S.Miniato-Italy).
Since 2016 he is part of the Alaune project and building up the community and the place
Besides his own research on theatrical masks, he is a youth worker and gives sculpting workshops for kids and adults.
