How It Began:

Sherron Burns, the North Battleford Comprehensive High School Drama teacher, approached a group of grade twelve Drama students with a proposal for a Collective Creation based on the theme of "Kites". The process would also include students from Music and Visual Art.  They agreed, and so began a project spanning 7 months.

Burns created a document which explains the Collective process in detail and can be found at the Special Initiatives page within the National Symposium for Arts Education web site.

Following a unit on Modern Theatre, they began to explore the concepts for their collective.  Ideas were discussed for a period of several weeks, research into various areas conducted, and characters began to emerge.  The concept was "auditioned" (through interviews and discussion) and a cast of interested people formed.  The group then met with writer, Cliff Burns to work out their progression of ideas and to form a script outline.  The script was written by the actors through a process of improvisation (some sections remain in improvised form). Designs for the masks, costumes and set were created by Annie Parkinson (who is an art student and one of the actors) and the construction was done by several members of the team.  Music students worked with the actors and composed the music for the play and individual motifs for each character.  Though facilitated by Burns, the team worked as a true collective - all having input and shared responsibility.
 

Making of the Masks:
 

each actor developed a character bio from which drawings were created a "positive" of the mask was sculpted from plasticine, built on top of mannequin heads for correct proportions (Note: we first tried clay but it dried and cracked, plasticine retained the right elasticity) plaster of paris was used to create a mould of the face - the "negative" (we plan to try Flexwax in future as it can be melted down and used again.) rubber latex was cast from the plaster. About four layers were used, and gauze was imbedded in the final layer to provide a strong base. elastic was sewn on the back to keep it on the head  painted with acryic paint (Note: the paint will crack and flake somewhat if the latex is bent - so be careful) We found it was useful to use a white or beige latex as you can use less paint. foam pads were glued to the cheeks and nose, on the inside, for actor comfort Click here to see masks

 

The Music: