Euripides’ “Medea” is getting a new face.
The Hillsdale College Theatre Department’s adaptation of the Greek tragedy gives the classic storyline a familiar setting in the Great Lakes region of 1680 America. Instead of the characters being Corinthians and Greeks, Native American tribes collide with French fur traders. The merging societies come together in one of the play’s most unique props: masks.
“[The concept] is a thought I have had for a very long time,” said George Angell, director and professor of theatre. “If you want to get a feel for a traditional Greek play, you need to go to a production that uses masks.”
“Medea” follows the myth of the tragic romance between the hero Jason and his bride Medea. In Angell’s adaptation, Medea, who will be played by senior Maggie Ball, is from a Native American tribe and marries Jason (senior Stephan Godleski) a French settler. When Jason decides to leave his wife and two children for a woman of his father’s choosing, Medea plots to exact her revenge on him.
The masks are a combination of influences put together and researched by students in the theatre department’s dramaturgy class. In a traditional Greek play, every actor wears a mask. In this production, only the chorus members will wear masks, which have distinctive Native American roots. This is the first time since 2007, when the department showed “The Dreaming of the Bones,” that masks have been made for a Hillsdale production.
“They’re inspired by an Iroquois mask. The general idea comes from the False Face Society,” said junior Anne Peterson. “We were inspired by the spirit of the masks.”
Peterson said the False Face Society masks inspire the “Medea” masks, but they will not be imitations in order to preserve the sacred nature of the masks and respect toward the tribe.
Peterson, junior Katherine Denton, and seniors Catherine Shilka and Dan Thelen have all been working on the masks as a part of their dramaturgy class and have crafted their own method for creating them.
Fosshape –– a unique non-woven, heat-activated fabric –– is cut into four sections: one for the nose, one for each cheek, and one for the forehead. The fabric is then laid over a mold and heat is applied with a dry-heat gun, which hardens the fabric into place. Unique features are added with strips of fabric and are then glued on and a hardened. Two layers of Sculpt or Coat are applied to make the masks sturdier. Once the masks dry, flesh-toned paint and shadow highlights are painted on.
“I like seeing it come together — being able to take the research and turn it into a mask,” Shilka said.
All of the masks are made from a singular base: a mask created by Angell when on his sabbatical in Bali in 2008 where he took lessons from a mask carver.
“It helps emphasize that the chorus is a unified body who acts as one,” Peterson said.
Shilka said that only the flesh tones signify whether or not the mask belongs to a Native American or French settler and the features could belong to either race.
“It helps with the premise of the show and the clash of cultures,” Thelen said.
The chorus parts are entirely sung, and the chorus is split into two groups: strophe and antistrophe. The strophes will be the Native American chorus members and the antistrophe will be the French settler women.
Denton said the Native’s masks will be more male, whereas the French masks will have more female features. This allows the Native’s masks to have more face paint, traditionally a male practice in most Native American tribes.
“The chorus offers counsel to Medea,” Peterson said. “We’re almost like the audience’s voice in a sense. We can vocalize our responses between what is going on between primary characters.”
The masks will be entered into the design and technology category of the regional American College Theater Festival competition where they will go up against other props and designs from college productions around the region. Denton believes those at the festival will be interested in the masks as a concept and as having a unique construction process.
Two responders not from Hillsdale’s region will also be coming to watch “Medea” and give comment. From their reviews, “Medea” could also be entered as an entire show into the ACTF competition.
“It all depends,” Angell said. “I think we have a very good shot at it because they will be interested in the concept.”
rturnbull@hillsdale.edu
