Stanley Allan Sherman

Stanley Allan Sherman, mask-maker, performer, teacher and playwright.

I first met Stanley at a conference in 2000 just a day or two before the passing of Carlo Mazzone-Clementi. At first glance, I was honestly unimpressed with some of Stanley's masks; they seemed very rough and Grotowski-like, not at all like the beautiful showpieces in which I had been trained. (Yes, I had much to learn...)

I changed my mind once I saw Stanley's masks in action. Just about a year ago, I asked him about his mask-making work. He told me he found his experience as an actor tremendously influential on his sculpting. He approaches each mask with various emotional states in mind, and in his heart, to infuse them into the leather, and into the final product.

Stanley is perhaps best known as the creator of the Mankind mask for the WWF (now WWE). He has a series of leather and neoprene Commedia masks for sale on his website, www.maskarts.com. Stanley also teaches Commedia and clown performance, mask making, leather clown nose making, and has been known to come to my house for a New Year's party.