By Rita Grimaldi
Introduction:
The Trinity of Story, Mask and Teller
In mask storytelling, there is a trinity that is always
in play. It goes like this: the story, the teller and the mask. This trinity forms
a oneness.
And in that oneness, sometimes different parts of the
trinity come to the forefront.
In Part Four of ‘The Redemption of Wolf Mask’, Story is
in the forefront. Part Four is about the teller (me) and Wolf mask who is my
telling persona, absorbing the truths of the rewritten story of Iron Wolf.
See how this is the case as you read what follows.
Rehearsing
and Coming to a Stop the First Time
All good art produces the unexpected. Rewriting the
story of ‘The Iron Wolf’ was a mostly
conscious act for me. But once I became Wolf - once I put on the wolf mask - only
a small part of my memory mind was in play. The rest of my mind belonged to becoming
and being Wolf. To my surprise, as I rehearsed the story, words that I had not written
began to come out of my Wolf’s mouth.
My Wolf began to say, “I wanted my side of the bargain
completed.
My Wolf wanted to repeat this set of words several
times over the four days he pursued the young man.
It did not matter to Wolf if the bargain was one that
should have been made. In other words, did Wolf have the right to strike a
bargain to eat the young man at the time of the man’s marriage? It only matters to Wolf that what he agreed to
do he actually does. But as the term of the bargain comes due at the marriage, the
young man refuses to do what he had earlier agreed with Wolf to do. That is, to
be eaten by Wolf.
Twice during rehearsal, at the point where the young
man runs away (thus not honoring his side of the bargain) my rehearsal came to
a dead stop.
The first time when I was stopped, I took off the mask
and walked out of the room.
A friend of mine, upon hearing Parts Two and Three,
said that there were two stories going on – my story and Wolf’s story. Reflecting
on my story, I realized that this is perhaps the truth - that in real life, I cannot
tolerate bargains not being kept. And equally important was my realization that
both Wolf and I have to learn that there are times in life when you just have
to cut your losses.
The Performance
Before I put on the mask for the performance, I spoke
to the audience about changes in the mask’s physical features and the story
line.
I talked about how these changes would mirror Wolf’s
ability to learn from his experience. I warned the audience that Wolf would die
in the story, but that he would put himself back together again. And finally,
and this is an important change to the original story, Wolf would consider the learning
from his experience.
Performance
and Coming to a Stop the Second Time
Earlier I said that when the young man refuses to keep
his side of the bargain, I stopped rehearsing twice. Here is the second
stopping point in my process of absorbing the revised story.
Two days after my performance, I wrote the following.
This morning I woke early and began to think about the
performance.
I saw in my mind’s eye, Wolf
telling his story.
I saw him tell about his
death.
I saw him remove his sash
and wristlets.
He stops.
There is a time of
silence.
This is the second stopping place.
It is a place where I, as Wolf, could choose to stop
learning from the experience of being torn apart by the young man’s dogs.
It’s a place where I, as Wolf, could let the horrific
experience overcome me and remain dead.
But then Wolf begins to tell his story again.
When the young man and his three dogs are gone, Wolf
tells how he puts himself back together. Once again, he becomes alive in this
world.
And Wolf goes on to tell the audience how he decides,
by reasoning out his situation, not to follow the man and his dogs, choosing
his personal safety. So he deliberately goes off in the opposite direction to
avoid another deadly encounter with the dogs.
Conclusion
to The Redemption of Wolf Mask Series
Rewriting and performing ‘The Iron Wolf’ in mask
has been a difficult process for me.
It has been what I call a ‘hard learning’ experience. Hard
learning forces a person to take a hard look at what their situation truly is. Wolf
does this in his rewritten ending. He says “These dogs have killed me once. It
is better not to follow them.”
Like many of us, it’s sometimes hard for me to look at
the way things really are. Becoming Wolf, and experiencing his extremely
violent death, taught me that consciously choosing personal safety is sometimes
the best option.
It
is an option that is not always fair
and
sometimes does not have bargains fulfilled
but
sometimes it is the best option.
Postscript
For the duration of the story, Wolf and I belonged
together. We resided in the wolf’s world and the wolf’s reality. Together, Wolf
and I learned to assess situations the way they truly are.
January 15, 2016
