We all wear masks every day of the week – whether it’s the clothes or makeup we wear, or the body language that we project – so it’s important to understand what the message is that we are either intentionally, or unintentionally, sending.
Robert Faust, founder and artistic director of Faustwork Mask Theatre, brought that lesson to the students of St. Teresa Catholic School in Elmira Feb. 17 when he performed his hour-long Mask Messenger show in the school’s gymnasium.
The trained theatre performer and expert mask-maker provided a brief and informative lecture about the myriad uses of masks in cultures throughout the world. He also demonstrated the power of transformation by wearing about a dozen different masks from the wall behind him and assuming the emotional or physical state expressed in each face.
“People use masks in religious ceremonies, they’re used in communal rituals to help make the crops grow, they’re used to bless new homes, or to get rid of evil spirits. They’re used when old people die, or when young people are born,” Faust explained to the students and teachers.
The show delivered important messages about self-confidence and the importance of understanding body language to communicate how you feel, and offered a unique insight into the many masks we wear daily.
“We all use body language all day every day, whether we’re thinking about it or not our bodies say a lot about how we’re feeling,” he said.
“Sometimes body language speaks louder than our spoken language. What are you going to believe, what I say or what I do?”
The actor was very engaging with students, coming out into the crowd at various points to connect with them one-on-one, and using a wide range of voices and accents to really get into character. Faust was invited to the school as part of the dramatic arts curriculum, and he was recommended by the school’s French and drama teacher Mary Baldasaro, who saw Faust perform back in September.
“I knew that it would fit well with the drama curriculum, but it was very entertaining as well for students from kindergarten to Grade 8 and that is not an easy thing to do,” Baldasaro said.
She said the topic of masks is also relevant to the history curriculum of older grades, which touches on the importance of masks to First Nations cultures in Canada.
Faust makes all the masks himself using a variety of materials, including plaster, paper and wood. He has travelled the world with seven other performers as part of the Faustwork Mask Theatre, which he founded in 1983. In that time he has created more than 300 different masks and performed in venues from the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
As a native of New Orleans – home of Mardi Gras, one of the biggest street festivals in the world – he has a deep-rooted passion for informing others about the importance of masks in our society.
“If you want to learn about a country, just Google the name and ‘masks’: ‘China masks,’ ‘India masks,’ ‘Brazil masks’ – you can learn a lot about history and cultures when you see them in their masks,” Faust said.
Visit www.faustwork.com for more information about the theatre group and their shows.
