Thinking about the Trestle Mask Unit

Criterion D: Responding

Your grade will be based upon how detailed your responses are:

1-2 Limited
3-4 Adequate
5-6 Substantial
7-8 Excellent

Create a google doc and write about what have you learned during this unit:
Write down the questions and answer them underneath:

What information was new to you?

(Any new terms/vocabulary?)

The new vocabulary terms that i was introduced to in this unit were

- Clocking

Clocking is a technique used in mask acting , where you as an actor look

straight at the audience while wearing your mask. This gives a sense of
connection between the mask's character and audience.

What are the rules for performing in Trestle masks?

- Do not touch or adjust you mask during a performance.

- Always clock the audience while walking in to the stage/set area.
- Face away from the audience while taking off or putting on your mask.
- Try to cover as much of the mask line as possible
What Was your scenario about?

- My scenario was about a group of police officers raiding an online

robber/hacker's house. This specific group of police officers are very
scared and nervous , the hackers take advantage of this and trick the police
officers. This is done by putting on disguises and creating traps. The scene
eventually ends in a climactic chase scene around the house, where the
hackers eventually escape the house leaving no evidence and taking their
stolen money/jewelry with them.

How did you come up with the ideas for the scenario?

- We brainstormed different ideas in our notebooks starting with a main

theme - Action,Comedy eventually specifying our scene down to the robbers
and police. Due to the characteristics of our masks we had to be extra
creative while thinking about the roles, after some brainstorming we had the
idea to assign all the scared/nervous masks(3 masks) to the police officers
and the mischievous/strong masks to the robbers (2 masks). When coming up
with the set area and movements of our play we drew different areas and
how the characters would , after some discussion we landed on the final set
idea and movements.

How did you want the audience to feel or respond to the story?

- The response from the audience was supposed to be laughing/happy as the

play was designed as an action-comedy with an action plot and comedic
moments. They should also figure out the roles of the characters easily, for
the hackers this was done by scattering jewellery and money around the
along with a whiteboard and computers with hacker related things on them.
While for the police officers we focused more on their costumes such as
police helmets , jackets and badges.
Tell me about your character:
Describe the character’s personality, who they were in the story, and what they
did in the story.

- My character was playing one of the hackers in this performance the

personality i created for this character was quick-witted/tactical, this was
shown by the actions performed by my character such as using a rope to trip
the police officers , this was proceded by using a police hemet as a disguise
and tricking the second officer, which allowed the hackers to erase the
evidence. I

What was the difference between rehearsing the scenario and performing it in
front of the other members of the class?

- The biggest difference was the space provided, during the rehearsal we had
limited space and area to work with , while on the other hand during the
performance we had the entire stage to ourselves. I think that the extra
space allowed us to perform our movements more comfortably.

- Another difference was that we could not start over if there was a problem
or mistake with the play , if we were rehearsing and messed up we could
always take it back to the start , while during a performance that is not
possible since you have an audience.
Explain how you think/feel the final version of the scenario turned out. Are you
satisfied with it? Why or why not?

- I feel satisfied with the final product because I feel like my group got the
final product we intended to have when we were planning it , in terms of
movement and props. Some things we could have done better is the final
chase scene as it seemed a bit short and anti-climactic.

Describe and evaluate how your ensemble worked as a group?

- I think we worked really well together , we had different roles in the group
to organize the planning phase. Each of these roles had specific jobs that
helped the group move forward. While rehearsing none of the group
members were distracted and everyone was focused on the rehearsal. We
also took each other's ideas into consideration and included them in the final
play.

Describe and evaluate your contributions to the rehearsal process and the creation
of the scenario (reflect on your commitment, your enthusiasm, your creativity)

- I think that I was committed towards helping my group , I did this by

chiming in to help plan and concentrating during rehearsals. I was pretty
creative during the rehearsals and planning when I had a new idea. I made
sure to share it with my group and I think that my ideas have helped develop
our play.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had the opportunity to perform it
in front of an audience who hadn’t seen it before?

- I think that if i had the chance to improve this play i would try to redesign
the chase scene as i think it was too short and a bit chaotic. This is because
there was too much going on in a small timeframe and I think the lengthening
out the play a little would drastically change this scene in a better way.

Did you have fun and enjoy the exploration of Trestle Mask work? Would you want
to continue with performing with masks? Why or why not?

- I enjoyed the exploration of trestle masks as it helped me develop new

characters, the first character i created was for the test/exam scenario
and the second character was for the summative , the hacker. I really
enjoyed creating and watching these characters develop over time as I had
new ideas to improve them and I definitely would like to keep performing as
a trestle mask.

How do you think performing in Trestle masks might help you as a performer in the
future?

- I think that performing in trestle masks has really helped me grown as an

actor because it taught me how to play a different character. I think
exploring these different masks helps you develop and create more
characters for you to use in the future plays other than trestle masks.
Answer the following questions demonstrating knowledge and understanding:

What is physical theater?

- Physical theatre is a type of theatre where physical theatre is the primary

mode of storytelling.

What are Trestle Masks?

- Trestle masks are playful masks that allow you to change your character and
personality for a performance. It's like performing through another
person's eyes.

How does an actor performing in a mask communicate feelings and character

without using verbal language?

- I think that a character should communicate their feelings and emotions via
exaggerating as it draws attention , this can help the audience understand
how you are feeling or what you are doing.
Is communicating dramatic ideas with physical theater more difficult than
performing plays acted with a text? (is it easier to tell a dramatic story with or
without lines?) Explain your answer:

- I think that performing with lines (like we do in Envision) has no change in

difficulty for the actor , but it does make it easier for the audience to
understand, since they don't have to guess/understand the story as it is
being recited to them.

What are similarities and differences between performing in Trestle Masks and
the Mask tradition you researched at the start of this unit?

- The mask I researched was the khon mask , The biggest similarity between
the khon mask and the trestle mask is that they both use physical
movements as their primary source of connecting with the audience and
storytelling.