11 September 2026 Public presentation– ‘Play with masks’ –

accademiadimitri
2 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 15 hours ago

The pedagogical legacy of Richard Weber

For Weber, the mask is a tool through which the artist learns, all at once, to observe, create, imagine, move and tell stories.

Put simply, the process is as follows:

Form → imagination → character → movement → relationship with the mask → action → story.

For Weber, the mask does not simply conceal the actor: it forces him to become clearer, more precise and more expressive with his whole body.

“The mask must serve the character on stage and [...] the expression on the mask’s face must further emphasise the actor’s performance.”

How students work

All the characters and their stories presented on stage began to take shape back in the studio, whilst the models were being created

The students’ work unfolds through a practical and progressive process. In the first stage, they prepare a scene and perform it, drawing on their physicality, stage action and relationship with the mask. The performance is then filmed so that it can subsequently be observed and analysed.

Reviewing the result allows participants to reflect on the work they have done and to receive feedback and comments from both the teacher and the group. Particular attention is paid to the clarity of the performance, its intensity and the authenticity of the connection between the actor or actress and the mask.

Based on the observations made, students are asked to correct their work and, where necessary, to redo it. The pedagogical principle underpinning this activity is, in fact, learning through experience and revision: do → observe → correct → redo.

“For the actor, the mask is a source of inspiration.”

“The moment when a shape becomes a living being”

Speaking of a student who had drawn a mask and named it “Peppino”, Weber explains that the young man:

“did not merely have a little drawing in front of him, but saw a living character.”

He concludes that the shape of the mask can immediately spark the imagination, evoking a character and a story. It is certainly a very poetic idea.

“The aim of this theatrical discipline [...] is to achieve a perfect expressive symbiosis between the actor and the mask.”

For Weber, the mask is not merely a decorative element, but a tool that must serve the character and make the actor’s or actress’s performance clearer and more expressive. The mask and the wearer influence one another: it is not only the actor or actress who uses the mask, but the mask itself that suggests the character’s movements, reactions and traits, to the point of creating a true expressive symbiosis.

A fundamental principle of the Weber method is simplicity. Through essential forms and lines, students learn to construct a recognisable physiognomy capable of stimulating the imagination. It is precisely from form that a living being can emerge: a modelled face can immediately suggest a name, a character, a story. This is why the creation of the mask and that of the character are closely linked: the story can begin to take shape as early as the studio, whilst the modelling is taking place.

Pedagogy, too, follows this principle. Learning takes place through doing: students design, shape and experiment, combining technique, manual skill and imagination. They begin with the fundamental elements of the face and gradually move towards greater complexity. Technique, however, must not limit the imagination, but rather open up new interpretative possibilities.

Another important aspect is physical work. Through walking, postures, rhythms, pauses and reaction times, actors and actresses build their characters even before defining their psychology. Temperaments are studied as ways of moving and reacting, not as moral judgements.

In this sense, for Weber, the mask becomes a tool through which students learn simultaneously to observe, create, imagine, move and narrate. The mask does not hide the actor or actress: it compels them to become more precise, self-aware and expressive with their whole body.

Source of the content: Richard Weber – I miei quarant’anni a Verscio

🎭 MPlay with masks 🎭

Mask teacher: Colette Roy

🗓️ Friday 11 September 2026

13:15 | 15:00

📍 Aula Grande, Verscio

Biography

Richard Weber (Prague, 1932 – Locarno, 2017) was an actor, mime artist and teacher. Initially trained as a make-up artist and mask maker, he worked at the Barrandov film studios until 1958, developing skills that would also influence his future teaching career. In the same year, he was one of the founders of the Teatro sulla Balaustra in Prague, where he was part of the pantomime ensemble until 1975, performing successfully on major international stages. In 1962, he met the clown Dimitri, with whom he forged a long-standing friendship and artistic collaboration. In 1975, he moved to Ticino and, together with Dimitri and Gunda Dimitri, founded the Accademia Teatro Dimitri, making a decisive contribution to the development of its teaching methods and the pedagogy of non-verbal theatre.