Masking a play

Creativity is not everyone’s cup of tea as being creative is not easy. You need to think out of the box, and especially when you are part of the theatre and directing a play that ‘thinking out the box’ is always emphasized upon. Here, you need to deal with every aspect of the genre - writing, acting and music. You need to know little bit of everything. And all above that, you need to be good to people.  

Michael Vogel is one such person, who is creative and thinks out of the box. His play, Hotel Paradiso in which he decided to use different masks for different emotion, was critically acclaimed and praised worldwide. Hotel Paradiso has been produced by Familie Flöz, a mask theater company from Germany. Vogel is one of the two founders of Familie Flöz and one of the three directors who presently run the company. He was born in Franken in South Germany and studied at the Folkwang Schule in Essen where he met the other Flözzies. Vogel started doing theatre in the barn of his parent’s home. During the festive season he would organise plays in the barn which involved the whole family and people from his village. 

He has been a part of Familie Flöz for 20 years, ever since it was founded in 1996. He says his journey has always been a connection with the past present and future of the Familie Floz.

“We will continue to create pieces of theater that touch people’s lives all over the world. Our aim is to keep improving the accessibility of our theatre for children and the elderly and reach out to newer audiences in China and South America. We would also like to exchange theatrical and existential experiences with other artists from across the world,” he said.

He loves the theatre that breathes and expresses emotions. He does not like conventional and formal theatre. According to him, the audience has to experience something that touches them deeply and moves their soul. If it doesn’t, then the work done on play means nothing. When he began to work on Hotel Paradiso, he had not too much to play with. “It was just a few strong ideas and a bunch of talented artists who helped us along the journey,” he said. Initially, he did not expect Hotel Paradiso to have a huge impact on the audiences worldwide. But he found himself extremely humbled and satisfied with the way audiences and critics have reacted to the play.

When asked why he chose to direct a mask play and not a regular play in which faces of the actors are visible and emotions are clearer, he said, “Mask theatre is a unique experience, almost a magical one! Our expressive masks are fixed, they don’t actually move, how could they? A few seconds after the show begins, something extraordinary happens, these masks start to smile, cry, become sad or get furious… How is it possible? Members of the audience after the performances are sure that our masks did move, but they didn’t. It all happened in the imagination of the audience, a collective imaginative experience, so to speak!”

Infinita, a German play is very close to his heart and he finds it to be a very emotional piece of theater. It talks about life and death, the joy of the first uncertain steps and the fear of the last ones. “I did this piece after my father’s death, so it was a very emotional theme for me,” he revealed.

He is working on his next project, which is co-produced with the Berliner Staatsoper and in collaboration with the Austrian Orchestra Franui Banda. This is what he plans to direct next. He said, “We would connect the masks on stage with live music from a great orchestra! Titled Himmel und Erde (which means Sky and earth) it will be about the concept of death, a theme that you could always find in our pieces.”

Vogel, who considers himself very frank, wants to abolish the whole concept of stardom! I believe that anybody who is creative should have a level playing field with equal opportunities. Using over 25 masks Hotel Paradiso showcases humor, improvisation, mime and physical comedy to create a family-friendly show. Having four actors, 29 characters, no words and loads of laughs, the play is being played at Kamani Auditorium in the national Capital.