“Outside In” is a masked journey that lives at the heart of South African culture today. Masks that borrow from a mixture of European and African styles will offer the audience new perspectives on their own lives and the world around them. Laughter and imagination will open the door to a new world of possibilities.

Critical Mask Theatre continues to explore the great potential of masks in performance. By incorporating elements of ‘Playback’ and ‘Improv’ Theatre, the show brings new life and excitement to an ancient and often sacred artform. The production is a hybrid collage that looks to embody the mixture characteristic of urban cultures today. Actors weave in and out of characters and stories and become both guides and guided on a journey past the mind and deep into the center of ourselves. Laughter and illusion open the heart to the paradox that lies within.

This new creation explores masks through a variety of styles and forms, is partly improvised and utilizes elements of the audience’s own stories as inspiration. Emphasis is placed upon creating an environment and playing space where the audience feels integrated within the performance and leaves with the feeling of having been part of the creation. A ritually charged atmosphere balances the edgy, improvisational style of play and provides the space for themes of hybridity and mixture to surface. Both the form and content of the piece center around this idea of mixture and transformation. To some degree, the integration of mask and actor serves as an embodied metaphor for stories shared.

Laen Herschler’s previous works include:
Subliminal (2010). Magnet Theatre
The People We Know (2009), Performance Works, Vancouver
These Walls Are Paper Thin (2009), Little Mountain Studios, Vancouver
Critical Mask received critical acclaim and sold out houses for both their 2009 productions in Vancouver.

Laen Hershler has been working with Masks for the past 7 years since graduating from Ecole Jacques Lecoq and has been teaching European style masking and performing over this period. He is currently researching Masks as his MA at University of Cape Town.

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