High Mas

Wild cheers followed and went on and on. That unique impersonation was created by Wilfred Strasser, mas man extraordinaire. Waving his three-pronged spear, he strolled across the stage in style, enjoying the acclaim of thousands.

When he was in the penny, it was almost impossible to tell he was human. Even under his eyes were painted in bronze. He hardly blinked and he controlled his breathing so it would not be noticeable.

Strasser’s presentation of still individual characterisations went on for a number of Carnivals. He played "Joan of Arc," "Abraham Lincoln," "Simon Bolivar," "Shakespeare," "The Hindu God — Shiva" and many more.

Fr Kennedy, the parish priest of the Lady of Fatima RC Church, commissioned Strasser, a sculptor in his own right, to repair and repaint the statues of the Virgin Mary, and the three children of Fatima that were in alcoves in the front of the church.

At first, I was a bit hesitant to speak to the famous artist but I had to compliment him on his creativity. He was quite pleased. We had long chats at lunch time. When asked what had inspired him to stage such unusual presentations, he said it all started at the Les Amantes Show at the Princes Building. He had witnessed characters which came out of pictures but they never looked as a part of it. He decided to become an actual part of the portrait.

In 1948, fire destroyed the City Council Buildings at Knox Street. The offices were relocated to the Princes Building and Les Amantes Show shifted to the Grand Stand.

When Strasser realised that all spectators knew that he must be the only human in the big picture, he came up with new ideas. In his still portrayal of "Romeo and Juliet", both characters were very realistic. The crowd applauded and waited in suspense. Which one was Strasser was anybody’s guess. Suddenly, "Romeo" rose from the tomb with the dummy of "Juliet" in his arms.

Strasser was once again sensational.

One year we saw a broken Chinese tea pot with pieces lying on the floor of his framework. Not a single character could be seen.

Most spectators thought, well, he was not in the picture, but to our amazement, parts of the shattered pot started to stir and out stepped Strasser as a Chinese Mandarin. It was absolutely mind-boggling.

"Why did you stop playing mas?", I asked him. "People just love your impersonations and you seem to enjoy yourself so much."

"Yes, I did. When you receive such applause, you feel like a king, even if it’s just for a day," he replied.

Then he rolled up his sleeves and said, "Look at this." His arms which were very light in colour, were partially covered with small dark red blotches. They looked somewhat like sores.

"You are looking at a dying man. The paints are affecting my skin, sinking into my pores. It’s in my blood stream and poisoning me slowly. The doctor is treating me but God alone knows how much longer I could last."

Actually, he returned to his Maker about ten years after our conversations. The statues are still there — a lasting testimony to this man’s incredible artistic genius.

Back then, the Pierrot Grenade, armed with a big book and hibiscus whip, used to roam the streets, asking spectators to spell words.

No one could ever get it right because his spelling was peculiar. For instance, "A chicken in a car and the car cayant go, that’s the way to spell Chicago."