A Peek Behind the Mask-Making of Shrek

March 9, 2019

Spotlight finally caught up with our busy director Loryn Hatten to ask her about the “ogre” masks that were made especially for our current show, “Shrek The Musical”. Here’s what she had to say!

Spotlight: Loryn, a lot of Shrek The Musical is about that green ogre make-up! It’s such a distinctive part of the show. Why did you decide to create these unique masks?

Loryn having fun in green make-up from previous Shrek production.

Loryn: I knew from the get-go that I didn’t want to do the traditional prosthetics for this show when I decided to direct it. Prosthetics like the ones traditionally used in Shrek are awesome, but they’re also really tricky. The thin edges of the latex get stretched and broken when taken off the face and with each subsequent use, the edges get thicker and more difficult to blend into the actors skin. As a result, you wind up with prosthetics that don’t fit very well and can be really distracting. They can also be hot and uncomfortable, especially the traditional cowl head piece that Shrek wears. The ideas for the masks came from remembering one of the first professional productions I ever worked on: Rumplestiltskin. Katie O’Bryon Champlin (a longtime PYT Director and Choreographer) played the title character and used a mask similar the the ones we designed for Shrek and it was very effective. I knew it would be an added challenge for the actors to add into their performance, but mask work is all about physicality and I thought that working with the masks might be a really neat way it enhance their performances all together.

Taking full face molds of the actors was a big undertaking. I know the actors came in over a couple of weekends. What was the process called, what did you/your actors actually have to do?

The process is called “life casting.” When I started looking at this option I spoke with our Hair & Makeup Designer, Katie Pheneger, and she was on board with the idea, but neither of us had ever made custom masks. We learned that Holly Smolik, Vocal Director for Shrek, had and I asked her to help. She agreed, but she also warned me that it was going to be a ton of work and a HUGE mess. We had actors who’d be wearing masks come in and they worked as teams to make the casts.

The first step was to prep the actor getting cast. We covered their hair and had them apply vaseline to their eyebrows and eyelashes so that the casting agent we used wouldn’t take their eyebrows and eyelashes when we pulled it from their faces. The casting agent is called alginate. It’s the same thing dentists use to make molds of your teeth. Once the actor was prepped we mixed the alginate with cold water and then applied it to the actor’s entire face, making sure that it did block their nasal passages. In fact, one person’s job was to watch the actor’s nasal passages at all times and clear them with cotton buds if any alglinate started to block them.

Then we covered the alginate with stretched cotton balls and applied plaster infused fabric over the cotton. The cotton is needed because the alginate doesn’t stick to plaster but both plaster and alginate stick to cotton, so the cotton worked to bind the two together. Once the entire face was covered, we had to wait for the plaster to cure, which took 20-30 minutes. During the process you loose access to your eyesight and ability to speak while covered in the alginate, so it can be a little scary, Holly recommended we keep someone with the actor as their cast cured to talk to them and we gave each actor a pad of paper and a pen so that they could communicate even when not able to speak. As soon as the plaster had cured we could removed the cast by having the actors scrunch up their faces and slowly pulled the alginate away from their skin. Uniformally, their biggest complaint was how bright it was when the cast came off. They all did really well with the whole process.

The final photos of the actors look amazing. Are you happy with the results? Are your actors?

Loryn: I’m really thrilled with the masks. I think they’re so fun and really add something special to the actors’ performances. The actors seem to like them a lot, too. We made them from papier mache and they’er really light and fit pretty perfectly.

Will you be able to re-use these masks for future PYT productions?

Loryn: Unfortunately, we can’t re-use these masks. They’re made to fit each actor specifically, and they’re going to get pretty sweaty during the show. Since they’re papier mache, there’s no good way to sanitize them between users, so the actors get to keep their masks as a special keepsake from the show.

You’ve always made exciting decisions for the mainstage shows and teen intensive productions you’ve directed including your vision for costumes, sets and the use of stage combat (Lion King Experience Jr., Guys and Dolls Jr. and She Kills Monsters)

What other aspects about Shrek have you re-interpreted and/or why should audiences come out to see this particular production of Shrek?

Loryn: I wanted to try something completely different with the scenic design. Shrek is traditionally staged with flat painted representational scenery. I liked the idea of going back to the books these stories came from so I asked our Scenic Designer, Andrea Bechert, to come up with a modular set using stacks of books as the concept. She designed a beautiful false proscenium that looks like a vintage book cover. We have stacks of books that we use in different configurations for each location and to help identify where we are, we have signs with titles that fly in overhead designed to look like books as well.

Anything else you want to add about about the show and/or your cast?

Loryn: This has show has been so much fun! The actors are phenomenal, and I’m working with a tremendous team of professionals who have rolled with all the wacky things I’ve thrown at them and comeback with some brilliant solutions. I cannot wait to get this show in front of an audience!