A workshop teeming with fierce wolves and fearsome eagles
As I write this article, it’s Blue Monday – or rather, a relentless Blue January, defined by the endless gloom and a total lack of even the faintest glimmer of sunlight. Woe betide the Empress who, in the midst of this wintry melancholy, dares descend from the spirit world in search of a shadow! She’d do better to try again in spring. Fortunately, that’s exactly when our opera Die Frau ohne Schatten will have its premiere – in April.
In Die Frau ohne Schatten, the cast includes not only ordinary mortals (who, under normal circumstances, generally do have shadows), but also unborn children and inhabitants of the spirit realm. Ton Joling, Head of the Milliners & Costume Workroom at Dutch National Opera, began work on the animal masks representing these otherworldly beings back in 2020, in collaboration with costume designer Naomi Dawson. The pandemic interrupted the process – Ton crafted the moulds alone at home during the first lockdown – but in 2025, the work resumed. And now, our theatre is inhabited by sinister wolves, watchful hounds, enigmatic owls, formidable eagles, a black raven and an elegant gazelle, all poised in stillness, awaiting the moment they’ll come to life on stage.
Beaks by vacuum
“The gazelle and raven masks are for soloists,” Ton explains. “They wear them when they’re not singing – but of course, all the masks must allow the performers to see and breathe easily, and let heat escape. That’s why we use Varaform, a lightweight material with an open structure. We drape it over a mould – made from clay or plaster, for example – then heat it so it becomes rigid. After that, we can shape and refine it further. We also create the eyes ourselves, from a type of acrylic that we paint on the inside. Furs and feathers are selected together with the designer, and we use a vacuum machine to shape the beaks – pulling a sheet of polystyrene into form over a plaster mould. Once shaped, they’re painted and airbrushed.”
Ton Joling
“The inside of the masks is like in a construction helmet – one size fits all”
“To make the masks even more expressive, we enhance the colour contrast and deepen the shading around the eyes. Inside, the structure is similar to a construction helmet and can be adjusted to fit the wearer’s head – so one size truly fits all!”
A process spanning many months
Ton offers the story in brief, but the full process – from gathering reference imagery and sourcing the right materials to completing an entire collection of masks – takes several months. Sadly, there’s less and less time these days for the kind of experimental research that leads to the most striking and sustainable results. But that’s a discussion for another article.
For now, I’m happy to report that nothing in the enchanting masquerade of Die Frau ohne Schatten betrays the blood, sweat, tears – or stress – that surely went into its creation. What I see is craftsmanship, commitment, joy and creative fire. In short: vivid, compelling portraits of spirit-world beings, each one more than worthy of a radiant shaft of sunlight – and the shadow it casts.
Text: Mathilde van der Horst Jansen
Die Frau ohne Schatten runs from 23 April to 9 May at Dutch National Opera & Ballet