Roman theatre masks were an extremely
important
part of Roman theatre. This is because
the masks
that the actors wore helped carry the
voice of the
actor so that members of the audience
were able to
hear what the actors were saying. It
has been
suggested that because of the shape
and sizes of
the masks that were used, voice
projections were
able to be heard from a greater
distance than you
could hear someone who was not wearing
a mask.
Theatre masks were important for a
variety of
different reasons; to distinguish a
character, to
project the actors voice and to relay
the emotional
disposition of a character. Theatrical
performances
were dependent upon masks and body
movement to
relay not only what an actor is saying
but also how
they are feeling.
Masks require a wholly different style
of acting in
order to communicate what is lost by
the lack of
facial expression; the masked actor
must
compensate by using a complementary
physicality.
Rather than limiting the actor’s
ability to transfer
complex text or emotions, however, the
stylized
movements of a masked actor bring a
new dimension
of expression, as well as a new
language, to the
performance.
- (MS.1696)
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