The wearer of the mask must be able to breathe and to see. Consequently, the eyes and nostril orifices should be as wide as it is possible to make them without sacrificing the appearance of the mask. There are, as we see, many practical materials and consequently many ways of making masks, and as modern mask making is so new it is still in an experimental stage and therefore there is no uniform method. One successful method, developed by the author, is as follows : After the drawings are completed the whole surface of the proposed mask is divided in a number of definite planes which of course will be of various shapes. These planes are then carefully drawn and cut out of Bristol-board or, preferably, the trunkmaker's fibre-board. The diagram (fig. 6) will explain this. The pieces are then glued together with small strips of rough paper or linen on the outside and on the inside. The whole mask thus constructed is then covered with additional layers of paper glued as lightly as possible and subsequently the inside and outside surface is given several coats of varnish and finally, when thoroughly dry, painted with oil colours. Smaller and more realistic masks may be constructed of small pieces of tough paper glued tightly together, starting with stiffer paper and building at first as a foundation a few of the most essential planes of the construction of the head, as for instance forming the f ore head of a number of long strips, then the shape of the lower jaws, and a narrow strip, definite and firm, representing the profile, attached to the middle of the forehead and meeting the jaws at the chin. Around these fundament2l planes the rest of the mask can be formed, taking care all the time that every bit of paper is tightly glued. Additional layers of the same material will im prove the details and will give the mask the desired firmness. Any further improvement of the modelling can be done by cutting off with a razor blade any undesired protuberances and filling with more layers of tiny pieces of paper the cavities that are not wanted. The whole mask is then varnished and painted with oil colours. After it is perfectly dry its surface is still far from being satisfactory. All the defects that could not be seen before the painting are now obvious, and cutting, filling undesired depressions and polishing will be necessary to obtain the desired surface.
The sharp incisions will have to be improved if they are clogged by varnish and paint. Then the mask will be ready for final painting.
An easier but less direct and less interesting way of making masks is to begin by modelling the head in clay or plasteline, cast ing the result, and pressing small pieces of paper into the mould, and glueing them securely. This must be done slowly and the paper must be kept as dry as possible to avoid shrinking and warping. Then the rest of the work is the same reinforcing, varnishing, painting, cutting, filling and polishing as in the pre ceding method.
Much has been said about the importance of reviving the use of masks on the stage, but the question of how that could be suc cessfully accomplished has been neglected. Attempts at masking one or several actors in a drama for some particular reason or under some special pretext, have been frequent ; yet, plays that are deliberately and entirely masked, without special reasons, are still a thing of the future. In the spoken drama there is the difficulty that the mask muffles the sound and in other ways inter feres with the speech; conversely, the speech spoils the effect of the mask, as one expects the words to be accompanied by the motion of the lips and other facial mobility which are absent in the mask.
This difficulty did not exist in the ancient Greek drama where large masks together with the cotkurni were intended to enhance and magnify the impressiveness of the actor who on the open-air stage was a considerable distance from his audience.
The large mask was not enclosing his face, but was affixed about two inches away from it and he spoke or rather chanted through a funnel which connected his mouth with the wide-open mouth of the mask.
(See also DRAMA; ACTING; PANTOMIME.) (W. T. B.)