Free Screening of *Keith Johnstone Teaches Trance Masks*

[acrouch]

"There is a seemingly improbable chapter on Mask work in my book Impro. I hope that these extracts from two classes on how to teach Masks at my July 2007 Impro Summer School will show that I was not exaggerating." - Keith Johnstone

Encore presentation this Tuesday night (October 30 at 10:00pm) of the 64-minute documentary footage of a Keith Johnstone-led workshop on Trance Masks. Come after your class/rehearsal/elective/drinking/etc.! RSVP on Facebook!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGpzYa9d-Hk[/youtube]

We've managed to book Steve Jarand from the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary (shown in this workshop footage with Keith) to teach a Mask workshop in Austin in December of 2012. In November we'll be making some masks with Jason Vines and screening the movie at least one more time.

This video is really well shot and gives an excellent sense of Mask work. Come check it out and start getting excited!

Tuesday October 30, 10:00pm
FREE!
RSVP on Facebook!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuEfVd7N ... el&list=UL[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3rdhFgygQ8[/youtube]

[Spots]

I'd like to hear Jason talk about that last moment there. Was it a breakthrough? You do makeup FX and wear a mask in your profile picture-- So in what ways was the experience different from playing with prosthetics and masks at home?

[kaci_beeler]

I saw the film in the first screening and did mask work with William Hall when he was in town several years ago. I find it all fascinating and very, very applicable to improv.

If you have a chance to catch this, take it. And consider the workshop in December with Steve Jerand when more info is announced. Specialty teachers in this field in particular (masks + improv) are hard to find, so I say definitely take the opportunity when it is presented if you're at all curious.

I managed to slip into an intense, very sorrowful character while in a mask once (in the William Hall workshop). For me, it was like getting an instant, full-body lightening bolt of character information all at once. Mostly, it was a feeling.
I went from normal me, curious and trying some exercise, to sobbing with immeasurable sadness in seconds. It was unlike anything that's ever happened to me with acting exercises before.
I can sometimes get to a full-body emotional place in improv, and it feels similar to what happened with that mask, but it takes longer and isn't as all-consuming as that was.

Anyway. I'm super excited to explore this further. I was skeptical about it early on, but now I'm seeing it more and more as a new tool to work with.