Photos by Lauren Bosche '15 and Anna Sand '16, video by Sue Rosenberg.

让悲剧变得有趣

2014年5月2日更新

The importance of masks in ancient 希腊s’ dramatic toolbox is at the core of an exercise that 丹·科里, associate professor of classics, assigned to the 14 students in his “希腊 Tragedy” (经典 222) course this spring.

In the run-up to the final class project—an original play, 的Spearwives, staged April 27 on the grounds of the Surrey Williamson Inn—the students spent two 课堂上制作自己的面具. The project required space, so Curley and studets set up in the Class of 1967 lobby outside of Gannett Auditorium for one meeting, and then outside to the edge of Case Green on a sunny, breezy afternoon for a second session. He spread large plastic tarps, and students stretched out on their backs as their mask-making partners worked over their heads, delicately applying strips of plaster 脸上的布. 

Curley advised the students in advance to tie plastic wrap around the tops of their heads to avoid having the plaster stick to their hair, and he suggested that petroleum 果冻可以涂在脸上. “I don’t want plaster in my nose ring, so be careful,” one mask subject advised her partner, as Curley mused, “Facial piercings are an interesting 这个项目的方面.”

And, in a development that no ancient tragedian could have foreseen, several mask-makers paused to allow their subjects to grab their phones and take a selfie.

Throughout the process, Curley offered advice:  “Make the mouth open, to allow the 演员说话，”他说. “Start by layering diagonal strips across the nose—that will 强化面膜，从这里开始.当学生们从额头移开 to cheek to jaw, Curley repeated “septum/lip, septum/lip” as a reminder of how to 塑造鼻子.  

Allston Daniels  ’15, an 英语 major, agreed that working in sections was critical to mask development—“it makes it easy to build up the cheeks and nose,” he 说.

"They get a feel for what they are doing, and their fingers learn,” Curley explained. Hearing the directions repeated helped students stay on task as the time flew.

整个下午都在分享反馈. 17岁的Lebogang Mokoena说:“你得到 窍门. It’s quite fun, and a little like geometry, fitting the small shapes 石膏布. I am trying to get the eyes set up and then will reduce or increase 必要时完成脸部.” A double major in anthropology and theater, Mokoena 说, “After this course, I am thinking of minoring in classics.“又是一个大一新生， 塔米姆·萨马维计划主修物理. 要求的阅读和部分 the grade placed on the mask—15 percent—made him pause. “但我问了周围的人 说那是一门很好的课程. I like the setup of the class—it’s not as technical as 我的其他一些课程. I ended up looking forward to these class sessions,” he 说.

The course drew students from all four years, a number of them theater majors. 一个, Emma Filer ’15, 说, “This is probably my favorite class right now. 这很有趣，而且 我喜欢阅读——我喜欢希腊悲剧.“克里斯托弗·诺顿，17岁，正在学习 toward a theater major and classics minor, 说, “It’s a lot of fun making the mask.” As for being masked, “You get a great appreciation for how still you need to be,” 他补充说.

Making it work was the focus of the classroom session that followed, when masks and 表演技巧得到了展示. Wearing their finished masks, students took turns acting emotions such as joy, sorrow, greed, curiosity, and frustration. 他们的同伴判断 how successful they were by guessing each presentation.

When Curley asked, “How does it feel to be in the mask?学生们回答说，“不舒服”。 “像汉尼拔·莱克特。.” One 说, “I feel like I’ve got someone else’s face.” Another added, “Eye contact is creepy” with a mask-wearer. 柯利说:“面具 让你不那么自然. 人们需要阅读广泛的行动.他说，对观众来说， “As you watch the movements of the body, the face will seem to change. 光与影 也可以这么做.”  

Then the students turned the tables on their professor, challenging him to the same 在自己的面具下锻炼. Curley agreed after one student promised, “I won’t put this 在Facebook上.”  Curley demonstrated greed, rubbing his fingers together rapidly; love, with hands over his heart; and disappointment, with a slow headshake. 学生们 responded with positive feedback, guffaws, and a lot of snapshots.

Wrapping up, Curley told the students, “You don’t want to descend into cliché. 让 面具做了一些工作. 放慢你的动作会有所帮助.”

When he first started teaching this class in 1998, Curley would buy masks for the students, but he began incorporating mask-making as a course assignment because “it’s 一个伟大的团队建设者，”他说. The masks support the final project, a 希腊 tragedy in 英语, written by the students using classical formats and subject matter from 他们这学期学习的戏剧. 目标是加深学生的知识 of the genre on many different levels, from narrative to presentation to reception.