Review: Mask: Making, Using and Performing by Mike Chase

Mask front cover

This review was published in the Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain‘s newsletter, Summer 2017, volume 94.

The work of Mike Chase will be familiar to many in connection with his mask making for the Mystery Drama productions and, more recently, for his remarkable drama therapy work in a high security prison. The title adds that the work is “inspired by the four temperaments, for use in workshops, performance and therapy”. Beginning with a helpful background of the historical uses of mask in drama, the author describes in careful detail how to create masks, which leads on to creating masks for the four temperaments in the appropriate colours. He then describes how these can be worked with using simple exercises and improvisations, many of which will be familiar to drama students, but used here in the context of employing the masks and working with the temperaments. These are for use in various contexts from theatre productions to drama therapy. Although of a specialist nature, the book nonetheless is a helpful guide to how one might work with the temperaments in other workshop situations. It is clear and readable and highly recommended to anyone interested in these fields.



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