Masks and Trance (Johnstone)
Keith Johnstone, Impro (1979)
Also known as Mask Work, Trance Masks
Johnstone's mask work, in which donning a mask and watching it in a mirror induces a trance-like state where a distinct Mask personality appears to take over the performer.
Known for
- Forms one of the four major sections of Impro (Status, Spontaneity, Narrative Skills, Masks and Trance), and the one Johnstone treated most seriously and even mystically.
- The mirror technique is central: the performer studies the masked face until a character emerges, described as the Mask possessing the wearer rather than the wearer playing a role.
- Johnstone argued schooling had killed this capacity for trance and play, and that masks reopened it under controlled conditions.
- Draws on European mask traditions (Lecoq and Saint-Denis lineages) reframed for improvisation and spontaneity training.
Connected to
People
Keith Johnstonejacques lecoq
Concepts
Forms
Schools & Theaters