Author Interview: UnMasking the Mask with Arne Zaslove & Erminio Pinque — Interviewed by Rebecca Migdal

In his book, UnMasking the Mask: Insights from Physical Theatre and Life, Arne Zaslove, offers inspiration to theatre makers, theatre lovers, and those who wonder how and why theatre has nourished our understanding of human nature for thousands of years. Drawing on decades of experience as a director and teacher, Zaslove offers a look behind the curtain at the process of preparing to make great theatre. The book offers an invaluable approach to developing the mindset needed to successfully create physical theatre. With his deep training in mask work, Zaslove shares the gifts available from the masks of Commedia dell’Arte, and those of cultures around the world.

About the Author

Arne Zaslove is a director, teacher, mask specialist, and physical theater consultant. As a Fulbright scholar, Arne was the first American to study at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. There, he absorbed a deep understanding of masks and of physical theater. His specialty in clowning and improvisation grew through his apprenticeship at Carnegie Mellon with commedia dell’ arte master Carlo Mazzone-Clementi (who went on to found the Dell’ Arte School of Physical Theatre in Blue Lake).

Arne’s method of training actors was synthesized through years as Artistic Director of the National Theatre School in Canada, co-founder of the University of Washington PATP program, and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. His approach focuses on freeing the individual’s body and imagination through a carefully devised sequence of physical exercises, mask work, and improvisation. His students have gone on to varied and successful careers, from the circus to Stratford and Hollywood.

A highly effective clown doctor, Zaslove is able to pinpoint the essence of the comic action and help performers extend a situation to the extremes of absurdity while maintaining credibility, precision, and timing. His talents have been called on by Cirque du Soleil, David Shiner (of Fool Moon), Graciela Daniela (director of The Glorious Ones, bound for Broadway), Teatro Zinzanni in Seattle, and Pomp, Duck and Circumstance in Berlin.

Arne has directed and taught in many regional theaters and universities across the U.S. and Canada. During his 20-year tenure as Artistic Director of the Bathhouse Theatre in Seattle, his updated Shakespeare productions and 17 versions of The Big Broadcast (a tribute to the golden age of radio) were especially popular with audiences for their sensitive interpretations and inventive flair.

He has synthesized his years of observation of human character as expressed in the body into a workshop called The Mask as a Gateway to the Self, which has proven equally valuable to artists, psychotherapists, and individuals seeking personal growth. Zaslove also leads classes and workshops in Divining Shakespeare: making the language of Shakespeare vividly accessible for performers and teachers alike.

Having spent many years mentoring performers, directors, designers, and writers, Zaslove has a depth of experience, a gift for creating an ensemble and for nurturing the talents of others, and a collaborative style that make him an all-around production consultant of rare ability.

Erminio Pinque is the founder & director of BIG NAZO LAB, an international touring group and Creature-making studio based in Providence, RI that blends a variety of mask, puppet, performance, and visual styles with live music & audience interaction.