Facial Hair

Utah Festival Opera, Utah Shakespeare Festival,
Colorado Shakespeare Festival, North Carolina School of the Arts

When I want to disguise an actor or make him look older, I can easily do this with facial hair.

• 
• 
• 

To custom make facial hair, the actor comes in and I take a face tracing. This is accomplished by wrapping Saran Wrap on the bottom part of the face, and carefully placing it under the nose. The shape is made by using clear cellophane tape and taping around the entire chin and jawbone. Carefully tape under the nose and lips and then trace the beard and mustache shape with a Sharpie. Gently remove the wrap and there is the face tracing.

• 
• 

The tracing is fitted to a block, canvas or wooden, but it may have to be padded to fit the jaw shape. There are chin blocks available that are easier to use, but you can also pad a regular canvas head to accommodate a beard.

The lace is laid over the pattern, darting under the chin. I use superlace, which is good even in small theatres because it is so fine, but is also a bit more durable than film lace. I have used film lace on a goatee for an Intimate Theatre, but it is very delicate and I used water soluble spirit gum so the usual solvent (acetone or alcohol) wouldn't disintegrate the lace.

• 

After the ventilating is complete, styling is done with marcel irons. This is why facial hair is made with human or yak hair; the marcel irons will melt the hair. Babylonian or Santa beards can be set on small rollers or perm rods and steamed, but generally stay away from synthetics for facial hair.

Heat the irons in a marcel oven, but check the temperature before you put the iron to the hair. I do this by testing the iron on a white paper towel. If it leaves a brown mark (or burns it), it is too hot and will burn your hair. There is only a small window of time where the iron is hot enough to style, but not so hot it burns the hair. That's why styling takes so long, you have to constantly heat the irons, and then possibly wait for them to cool. But in the end, you have a facial hair set that looks natural (or not), but is perfect for the look of the character. In a Shakespeare Festival setting, the actors play many characters so there is a lot of facial hair.

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•