Bursting the Grape

Hello,

So I was curious about masks because last year I did a jazz piece with a mask and it was not as much fun as you'd think. I couldn't find who originated the concept but learned that in Greek theatre masks were used because if you weren't in the first few rows all facial expressions were lost and it was difficult for the audience to recognize and differentiate between characters. In the theatre of Dionysus (very large) the masks brought a more natural look than bare faces and keeping in line with that, their decor was quite simple. Contrary to some belief there were no megaphones in the masks so the actors must have had amazing projection. I was surprised to find that masks were not only made of wood or cloth, but also leather; to me this seems the most practical of the three yet I had never heard of it before.
http://www.didaskalia.net/studyarea/greekstagecraft.html

I also found a tidbit on the second site that talked about the Roman history of masks. It is said that people of greatness had their "likeness handed down" in the forms of busts or masks that were kept somewhere safe but brought out on special occasions to celebrate the dead. I'm curious, if we followed this practice instead of using photography, how masks of today would have evolved from then.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0019:text=Agr.:speech=2:chapter=1&highlight=masks