The Masquerade (In progress)

Welcome to The Masquerade. What does it mean to perform? Am I performing now? Are you? The Masquerade explores the identities we put on based on social or internal factors and how these conceal or reveal ourselves. To assemble the masquerade, an array of performers were each tasked with designing a mask representing a facet of themselves. They were provided with materials and incorporated elements they felt represented them. Through the masquerade, I invoke the past history of my family in the Lake Charles Mardi Gras scene, creating a Krewe of my own.

A self-portrait of The Director invites audiences behind the curtain and into The Masquerade. Multiple masks on Femme/Masc/Ethereal show the experience of gender fluidity. The Guide at the Crossroads walks between spaces of birth and death, quietly and often shrouded in a protective layer. Cultural Reset finds power in sharing her culture with others and The Idealist remains hopeful and resilient despite looming fears. The actor explores feelings of catharsis, felt in performing where the mask finally falls.Through the experience of characterizing identities, performers and everyday people find themselves in a world of clowns, where expression is limitless.