Production photos of  Village Theatre’s “Narnia” and Intiman Theatre’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Chris Bennion.

    The masks featured here were designed for "Narnia"; a musical based on C.S. Lewis’ novel “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” This Lion Aslan is the savior who rescues the land of Narnia, which has been kept in winter for 100 years by the evil White Witch. Setting off this battle between the good and evil are four sibling children, who are magically transported into Narnia while examining an ornate wardrobe in their uncle’s country home. 

    Masks were a critical component of this production because they help set the tone for the world of the White Witch, which is populated by scheming dwarves and mythic creatures. This world is also one that is in perpetual winter, where everything seems to be frozen in time. In order to convey a cold, nightmarish but magical quality about the characters, gargoyles were used as the primary source of inspiration. 

    While masks help actors complete their characters, they do stop actors from expressing emotions through their face. The mask created for Bottom in Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” solves this problem entirely. By making an open-weave design, not only can the actor animate the mask, he can also gesture freely with his face.