Shelley Wyant, a Master Mask Maker with over four decades of experience, has spent much of her career exploring the transformative power of masks in performance. Wyant’s unique approach to masks has shaped her teaching, acting, and directing, making her a respected figure in both the theater and education communities. Through her work, she emphasizes how masks allow actors to transcend personal boundaries and unlock new dimensions of creativity and self-expression.
At the heart of Wyant’s philosophy is the belief that masks are more than just tools for performance; they are gateways to deeper personal transformation. Whether she is guiding students at the Terry Knickerbocker Studio or directing productions, Wyant’s passion for mask work permeates everything she does. She encourages actors to use masks to discover new facets of their characters, helping them to move beyond their own limitations. This interview has been edited for length and clarity
I remember taking a class about masks in college. I liked it but from what I remember, once the class was over, that was it. I kind of wish that we had used it more.
Shelley Wyant: I’ve been at many institutions for like 10 years at a time, including Terry Knickerbocker’s Studio right now, and I’ve always felt that there’s a Neutral Mask and a Character Mask and they’re two separate things and I’ve always felt that in the final year of the process, how wonderful it would be to have a little touchstone back to the work.
My kids, when they play, they’ll put on a mask along with maybe a costume or something, and you can see them transforming on a dime. I feel like as we get older, obviously, that doesn’t happen anymore, or we get in our own heads. It’s like putting on a hat or something, you immediately feel like you’re a different person. Is that kind of what you are helping actors with on your end?
Shelley Wyant: That is exactly it, Lance. And we do a lot of journaling in class. After an exercise, I release them to their journals and then we share. So that’s part of the whole structure of the class; we do an exercise, we journal, and then we share.
And from that process, you take ownership. You take ownership of the experience and ownership of the information that you garnered in that experience. And eventually, my hope is that it becomes a part of you and that you can take it into everything you do.
What I tell my students is you put the mask on, and you can put the mask on in your imagination and just be that serene, wonderful person that you discovered when you need it. If you need it, you call it up; you let it be there for you.
I know you direct a lot as well.
Shelley Wyant: I do. I say that very enthusiastically because I’m kind of gob smacked that it happened. I let all these jobs go, three jobs, three rather heavyweight, important, big old, time jobs. My husband’s father died, and he said I didn’t have to work. And I thought, “Okay, great. Goodbye!” Because they were really making me crazy. And then I started getting directing jobs, and it’s been one after the other, after the other.
When you’re directing, and obviously you can’t use masks in everything you do, but does your mask work seep into your directing work?
Shelley Wyant: It feeds everything I do. It feeds everything I do. It feeds this conversation. It feeds my dinner conversations. It’s something I’ve done for so long and I am so grateful. That’s it. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share this work and to do it with as much dignity and grace as I can muster.
For more information on Shelley Wyant and her classes at the Terry Knickerbocker Studio, click here.
