![]() But again, no reliable pictorial record has survived. Constructed of papier-mâché, the masks of the mystery plays were evidently marvels of ingenuity and craftsmanship, being made to articulate and to belch fire and smoke from hidden contrivances. In plays dramatizing portions of the Bible, grotesques of all sorts, such as devils, demons, dragons, and personifications of the seven deadly sins, were brought to stage life by the use of masks. In the Middle Ages, masks were used in the mystery plays of the 12th to 16th century. In fact, some authorities maintain that the masks of the ancient theatre were crude affairs with little aesthetic appeal. The tendency of the early Greek and Roman artists to idealize their subjects throws doubt, however, upon the accuracy of these reproductions. Details from frescoes, mosaics, vase paintings, and fragments of stone sculpture that have survived to the present day provide most of what is known of the appearance of these ancient theatrical masks. Moreover, their use made it possible for the Greek actors-who were limited by convention to three speakers for each tragedy-to impersonate a number of different characters during the play simply by changing masks and costumes. Heavily coiffured and of a size to enlarge the actor’s presence, the Greek mask seems to have been designed to throw the voice by means of a built-in megaphone device and, by exaggeration of the features, to make clear at a distance the precise nature of the character. Masks used in these productions became elaborate headpieces made of leather or painted canvas and depicted an extensive variety of personalities, ages, ranks, and occupations. In Greece the progress from ritual to ritual-drama was continued in highly formalized theatrical representations. Thus symbolically identified, the communicant was inspired to speak in the first person, thereby giving birth to the art of drama. ![]() When a literature of worship appeared, a disguise, which consisted of a white linen mask hung over the face (a device supposedly initiated by Thespis, a 6th-century- bce poet who is credited with originating tragedy), enabled the leaders of the ceremony to make the god manifest. In the worship of Dionysus, god of fecundity and the harvest, the communicants’ attempt to impersonate the deity by donning goatskins and by imbibing wine eventually developed into the sophistication of masking. The mask as a device for theatre first emerged in Western civilization from the religious practices of ancient Greece. The mask participates as a more enduring element, since its form is physical. It is most impressive because it can be seen as a reality it expends itself by its very revelation. Theatrical performances are a visual literature of a transient, momentary kind. Masks have been used almost universally to represent characters in theatrical performances. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century. ![]() Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians. DRAMA MASKS HOW TO
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