Anthropos 79. 1984: 1-12
Corrigendum
Mask and Masking; A Survey of Their Universal
Application to Theatre Practice
Inih A. Ebong
1. Mask Characteristics and Attributes
Quite frankly, the mask is a charismatic
device sui generis; whether in its magical, ritual,
religious, artistic, or socio-political conception
and application. Theatrically, it commands a
cognitive ubiquitous presence that could be
instantly felt in the auditorium. It possesses a
cognitive form, a consciousness, and an essence.
Therefore, whether the mask is native, common
place, or exotic to the culture that uses it; whether
it is beautiful, placid, and sublime in form,
structure, and appearance; or whether it is simply
ugly, fierce-looking, horrendous, grotesque, and
bizarre (like most African masks), a mask is
generally presumed to be imbued with strange
metaphysical powers and attributes. These could
be (and they have been) translated into adept
theatrical and aesthetic advantages both for the
actor wearing the mask and for his audience.
It is the peculiar combination of these attri
butes in the mask which ineluctably activate
vibratory vectors that in turn create the strange
feelings and atmosphere, characteristically native
to the theatre - notably feelings of awe, wonder,
admiration, and reverence which derive mostly
from paradoxes, such as those innate to attraction
Inih Akpan Ebong, poet, playwright, critic, actor, and
play director; honours degree in English (Drama) from the
University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Master's Degree in Theatre
Art from Michigan State University; member of the World
Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA) and appointed
into the International Commission for Leisure Information
Exchange (INTERCALIX); since 1977 he is Lecturer at the
University of Calabar, Nigeria, for Directing, Contemporary
African, Third World, and Twentieth Century Theatre; in
addition to his doctoral degree on “Utuekpe, a Nigerian ‘Folk
Theatre (University of Birmingham), Ebong is working on
“Dramatic Theory and Criticism in Africa 1800-1980” and
“The Theatre Concepts of Wole Soyinka. ”
and repulsion, empathy and alienation, excite
ment and alarm, etc. Apart from its extensive use
for the myriad forms of theatrical entertainment,
the mask has similarly been used for various
geo-political, socio-cultural, and religious purpo
ses, for example, warfare, divination, and rites de
passage, even for exhibitions and tourist indulgen
ces. It is virtually being used today in most
cultures for the same or similar objectives.
Historically, the mask is synonymously pre
sumed to date the human society. Even though its
true origins may be shrouded in an enigmatic and
mysterious whirlpool, yet it could be speculated
with some certainty and accuracy that mask and
mythology share common origins and ancestry:
both are living conceptions of the human mind,
with the one explaining the other, and designed
principally to teach, amplify, and reinforce the
religions, history, aspirations, hopes, fears, mora
lity, etc., of the community. Masks are, in fact,
concretized and emblematic actualizations of
mythological abstractions, specifically contrived
to amplify, reinforce, and codify the beliefs,
metaphysics, and cosmology of the community,
including their basic and essential philosophy of
life and existence. Therefore, its enigmatic origin
notwithstanding, there is a considerable degree of
unanimity about its artistic, religious, social, and
other roles or functions in nearly every culture
that has used the idiom. For example, it is almost
universally accepted that the diverse applications
of the mask idiom have their origins and roots in
the religions, rituals, and theatre crafts of the
so-called “primitive,” non-literate societies.
Similarly, the Greeks are universally acknowl
edged with scholarly accreditations for the “for
mal” and “conventional” use of the mask in the
theatre. Later centuries have equally followed in
the footsteps of ancient Greece. Medieval thea
tres, for instance, extensively used the various