Because the audience sits a distance away from the stage, the actors' makeup must be bold enough to be seen from the back of the theater. At close range, some techniques may appear gaudy or unrealistic, but on stage, they pull off the look beautifully. To begin, use a foundation that matches the actor's skin tone all over the face and neck. Theater foundation, or pancake, is thicker than normal products, so a little will go a long way. Too much may alter the color of the actor's real skin if she is fair-toned. Once you have applied the base, blend it at the ears and neckline. Use the assistance of a bright light to double check.
Now, locate natural shadows on the face. The trick to aging a face is to enhance these natural shadows. With a fair-skinned actor you will need to darken shadowed areas. With a dark-skinned actor, highlighting alternate areas works better. To locate natural shadows, place the actor in a dark room and illuminate him from directly above. For every subtle shadow that you see, fill it in with a powder much darker than their natural color. Fill in areas not shadowed with a light-colored powder. Use eyebrow pencil to create creases within these shadows. Apply creases to smile lines, crow's feet and the forehead. Ask the actors to scrunch their facial muscles to identify natural wrinkle areas. Use a pencil, two shades darker than the natural tone of the actor, to add age spots or round splotches around the cheek and neck area.
There are several ways to make an actor's hair appear gray. An actor with dark hair can look gray with the application of simple baby powder. For lighter-colored hair, use gray theater hair spray. Spray it only on the top layer of hair. Add dark powder in streaks to give it a more realistic look. Remember to thicken the eyebrows. To prevent injury, avoid excess makeup or sprays near the eyes. Instead, purchase false eyebrows to give the eyes an elderly look. Finally, apply base and emphasize shadows on the hands as well. They will be noticeable on stage. Use purple pencil to darken veins to make them more visible.