April 11, 2010 * 2 PM
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
118 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
$10 tickets available here or at (215) 627-1883

MAKING FACES is an invitation to join in the ongoing conversation Pig Iron has had about masked theatre over the last 15 years.  Masks have been a part of live storytelling for several millennia, and they play an integral role in countless societies' ritual and cultural activities.   The human face - a kind of mask itself - is both incredibly expressive and fundamentally mysterious. Masked theatre taps into this paradox: we wear a mask to reveal ourselves.

This afternoon event at PAFA will follow an intuitive and non-chronological theatrical journey through masked theatre, uncovering Pig Iron's obsessions, investigations and queries into the role of masks in performance - and, perhaps even deeper, into the role of performance in our lives.  MAKING FACES will explore a wide variety of mask styles: the calm, balanced Neutral Mask; Balinese and Italian character masks; the utilitarian masks we wear to protect our faces from welding torches and hockey pucks; the carnival and masquerade masks of Switzerland and Brazil; and the smallest mask, the clown nose.  Pig Iron's crackerjack ensemble will transform from one character to another by covering their faces to reveal a different part of themselves.  

Led by Pig Iron Co-founder Quinn Bauriedel and featuring Sarah Sanford, Geoff Sobelle, and Charlotte Ford, this event promises to open up Pig Iron's creative short-hand while tapping into the spirit of play that governs all of the company's wide-ranging work.