Theatrical performances or entertainments that were designed to mock, satirize, or provide comic contrast to formal court masques during the Renaissance.
Formed from the prefix 'anti-' (against, opposite) combined with 'masks' (theatrical performances). The antimask emerged in early 17th-century English theater as a deliberate counterpoint to the elaborate court masques popular among nobility.
Antimasks were like the opening comedy act before a serious theatrical production—they featured lowbrow humor, grotesque characters, and slapstick to entertain the audience and servants before the dignified masque began, creating a bizarre class-based entertainment sandwich.
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