Paperface is a book about full masks and improvisation to be released in conjunction with REACT 2026 in August.

Here is an excerpt from this beautiful, insightful and practical guide to sensitive stage training and silent storytelling.

From the Introduction…

I have been given access to a tradition with broader traditions behind it like tribal full mask ceremonies in Africa and beyond, classical Japanese mask theatre, religious mask traditions pantomime, silent films and even some forms of puppetry. To honor what has come before and as a thank you for those gifts, I try to keep the masks alive and cultivate the conditions for ongoing discovery. With a focus on improvisation, I use them to challenge players to overcome physical and psychological obstacles and to come out from behind the mask stronger and wiser than before.

The masks themselves are merely paper (and sometimes plastic or foam). But as Keith Johnstone says, when connected to the body and soul of the performer, they become so much more. Despite Keith’s recommendation to scrap the title, I have decided to keep it as a challenge to myself. Is my teaching, playing and staging the masks as well as the writing in this book able to do justice to them? Can I properly portray what a simple item made from recycled bags and destined for the compost heap can achieve in the meantime? Will the object’s simplicity and the wearer’s complexity harmonize to deliver meaningful human stories? Is there magic in the mask?

That’s what we’re here to discover.

Enjoy these paper pages.

Enjoy PaperFace.

 

*For pre-orders send and email to: info@stevejarand.com