The book is a new look at the well-known phenomenon of culture and artistic practice. The history of the mask begins in rituals and rituals, vividly declares itself in the era of antiquity, continues in medieval carnivals, Italian folk theater, in the drama of the new wave of the beginning of the 20th century, in the experiments of domestic and foreign theater directors-reformers, various aesthetic and methodological attitudes of theater teachers and schools. The work contains extensive art history, ethnographic, cultural material, unique illustrations and comments on them. The book is intended for a wide range of readers.