During the Covid pandemic in 2020, I hoped to have masks of my face to distribute to audience members at Covid vs. Menopause, a monologue-based piece I was commissioned to perform at the Centaur Theatre as part of their outdoor program, Portico Project (Sept 24-Oct 4 2020). Sadly, the masks didn’t arrive in time.

I’ve been sending them out as a way to connect with people: from my hands through the mail to your hands and face. I *think* it’s a transfer of affect—a means of exchanging feelings over time and space. What I mean by this is that it gives me joy to prepare the package that goes in the post, and it gives me joy to imagine a person opening up this package. Smiles in the mail. There is still more joy if the person sends me a picture or tells me about their pleasure in putting on my face or giving it away to someone else. I’m still in the middle of this process and thinking about what it all means…

*The mask features a perimenopausal beard and mustache that I grew last summer

(MJ is pictured above wearing one of my faces)