Paper 2 Re-vised - Homework PDF

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In the play, A Disappearing Number, the performers conveyed many morals, and life lessons by means of simple actions, and pure acting skills. In my opinion, I would watch this play again with a friend. All performers in the play, A Disappearing Number by Complicate and Simon McBurney, had exceptional skills and showed proficiency and perfection in their roles. Although I thought that the work of two performers in particular was extraordinary. In this play I found Shane Shambhu’s performance as Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Saskia Reeve’s performance as Ruth Minnen exceptional because of their body language, use of vocal skills and facial expression. To begin with, both performers used body language to express their thoughts. Shambhu, who played the role of Srinivasa, used unique body language to portray as a mathematician. For example, Shambhu used body language when he wanted to show the mental, physical and emotional struggles that Srinivasa faced while trying to find a mathematical answer. When Shambhu was performing, he was continuously writing on and on to find the answer, and the way he showed tension and stress in his performance was amazing. His body matched the beats of of Bharatanatyam, and as the beats got quicker so did Shambhu, this is another example of how Shambhu portrayed excellent body language. On a different note, Reeves’s performance also had very effective body language. One example of Reeve’s body language was when she was walking into the lecture hall as a teacher that was bored of teaching, and very nitty/picky. Her walking was scrouchy, and boring, more specifically, Reeve walked slower, and made small steps towards to board. Reeve’s walking as a teacher was significantly different to her walking

style as a romantic lover. When Reeve was walking to her partner, she was walking quicker, with passion, love and excitement. I knew this because she would laugh and smile on her way to her lover. During both times, Reeve walked, but she walked so much more differently the first time than the second, because she was showing different times in life, this is why Reeve’s performance portrayed a good use of body language, and emotion. Also, another specific example of Reeve’s body language was when she was with her lover and he asked for her number. Reeve changed from being a professor who wanted to end her day as soon as possible to being a person filled with love. Her body language portrayed this when she took off her glasses, her face got red due to blushing, and her walk became more gentle and touched. Reeve so quickly changed from being serious and annoyed to shy and embarrassed. Moving on, when I picked to watch this play, I did not think I would find it as interesting and I really did. The vocal skills of the performers made the play even better and interesting to watch. One example of Shambhu’s excellent vocal skills was when he was talking to himself, as Srinivasa. Srinivasa in the play is deeply connected to religion, and when Shambhu as Srinivasa talks to himself, he changes the tone of his voice multiple times. For instance, his voice went up and down, and this portrayed his emotional state. I found it very interesting to see how Shambhu made good use of voice and pitch to show the emotion of Srinivasa, who was in such stress and anxiety/tension. Reeve showed exceptional vocal skills when she was arguing with her lover. Reeve screamed loudly using her voice as a weapon to make her argument stronger. As she screamed, her face got red and she changed the atmosphere so well using only her voice. I found Reeve’s loud voice effective because it portrayed her inner anger. Both Shambhu and Reeve never meet in the actual play, because they both are playing the same person in a different life. This sort of extreme philosophy was used in this story, and both perform ers, one playing as an

Indian, Shambhu and one playing as an American woman, Reeve, both showed multiple emotions which their voices helped them do better. The third feature that both performers utilized in their performance was facial expression. Shambhu portrayed excellent facial expression when he showed gratitude and excitement. When he/Srinivasa played by Shambhu finally finds the solution to his problem, his face shows his excitement, and happiness. Srinivasa’s personality is one that is always quiet, and reserved, Shambhu showed great happiness in the Srinivasa’s face by using facial expression. His facial expression showed that he was happy, his face glowed, and his smile was big. Shambhu worked more with facial expressions, since like I mentioned before, the character of Srinivasa was reserved and quiet, many times his face did more than his voice. Although, Reeve had much more voice/dialogue, and debatably more actions. Since Reeve had two roles to play, one as a bored teacher and another as a romantic, passionate lover, Reeve’s facial expressions had more emotion in them. When Reeve played the role of a teacher, her facial expressions showed that she was worn out and drained her energy. Although her facial expressions while playing a lover, showed that she is excited, and passionate to be with her partner. Reeve’s facial expressions helped me understand her emotions clearly, and this is what made them exceptional. As a result, both performers performed exceptionally and executed their actions and expressions in a proficient manner, both performers used body language, showed extraordinary vocal skills, and facial expression to make their performance even better. Shambhu and Reeve both portrayed how different emotions can come over someonethat can change their life and decisions. I found their performances very amazing, and I would recommend this play as a must....