A máscara no teatro moderno: do avesso da tradição à contemporaneidade

Abstract

This study presents some of the initiatives to reinstate the mask in modern theatre. In the vast spectrum of the first half of the Twentieth Century, I chose four key artists who elaborated this object: Gordon Craig, Meyerhold, Jacques Copeau and Jacques Lecoq. In the work of these artists, the mask is not one scenic element among others, but becomes the organizing keystone for the theatricality that they seek. Through their creations we can analyze some of the mask´s features that are being reelaborated in contemporary theatre. In Gordon Craig, we examine initial propositions within the symbolist theatre, placing this in a panorama of the mask at the beginning of the Twentieth Century; with Meyerhold, one can trace the grotesque elements contained in the mask; in Jacques Copeau, the focus moves to the concepts of character and type, and finally, in Jacques Lecoq's pedagogy, one can probe the mask as representational sign. From the foregoing elements, we outline an operational proposal which aims to approximate the mask to the concept of figure.