Minshall unveils Mas Pieta

KINETIC Mas Limited launched its 2020 Carnival presentation, Mas Pieta, designed by Peter Minshall, on Thursday evening, at its Woodbrook mascamp.

Though Kinetic Mas Limited is a new entity, it comprises individuals who have over 75 years of Carnival experience and have produced numerous Carnival presentations throughout the years. They include Marguerite Moore, Ann Marie Placide, Kevin Crosby, Ronald Guy James, Randal Harford, Paul Charles and Peter Samuel.

Samuel said a lot of people who play with bands that only come out on a Monday wanted something to do on Carnival Tuesday and so Kinetic Mas was born. He said Mas Pieta aims to produce an experience that delights masqueraders and ensures maximum satisfaction to all their stakeholders.

Minshall was on hand to take guests through drawings of his costumes and the story behind each of them. The mas is entitled A visual symphony - A mas in four movements or acts. Minshall told guests his 1976 Paradise Lost was the precursor to his 2020 portrayals.

“Going full circle to the Land of the Hummingbird, which was where the beginning of Paradise Lost was found; a circle in two parts, and the fitting end if Paradise is at last to be found again.

“Mas Pieta to me is a visual symphony and here is the orchestra. It is a sailor band but it is also a concert orchestra, which also dresses in black amidst playing instruments. And in this visual symphony, they all come with their instruments but the instrument is the same circle of the humming bird, coming back to the land of the hummingbird to find him, except this time it literally is a circle.”

He said he had to do a lot of writing to get into his head what Mas Pieta would be about. “I sent the writings up to one or two of my friends and they thought Minshall has gone stark raving mad,” he laughed. “What is all this writing got to do with mas! I had to write it down to find the background.” Minshall’s Mas Pieta itself consists of four acts with over some 40 sections.

From Act I Armageddon, there is the Horror story; in Act II Ashes to Ashes, is Pity; from Act III Over the Rainbow, there is Love; and from Act IV Le Paradis Retrouvé, one will see the Light. Among the portrayals are Thunder and Lightning, Powerlust, Paradise Regained, Seas of Blue and Bright Sunshine, Pure Bliss, All Ah We Is One, The Sky’s The Limit, Wonderful World, The Sun, The Moon, The Stars and The Eye of Paradise.t