Mask of the Calamity Player

This stage mask is a slender, half-face visor of pale lacquer and black velvet, rimmed in silver thread that shifts like a curtain in a draft. Its surface can alter at will, flowing from jeweled comedy to mournful tragedy, from animal snout to angelic countenance, or to a perfect copy of another face. When it is pleased, the mask gleams as though lit by footlights no one else can see. When angered, the painted smile seems to tighten into a sneer of its own accord.