Joe Thomas

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
During practical exploration in class, me and Maya explored non-verbal
communication between John and Elizabeth Proctor in Act 2 of The Crucible.
We didn't use a lot of eye contact because we wanted to convey to the audience
that the couples relationship is very cold due to the affair between John and
Abigail. Another way we wanted to show the distance between them was
through proxemics. We thought that if we were apart from each other for most of
the scene, this would show the distance between them.
On the line I think youre sad again. Are you? I moved towards my partner to
show my objective was to get Elizabeth to forgive me. I didn't move around the
space often as it would convey guilt. This is because this would show discomfort
around Elizabeth because of the affair. Maya did move around however as she
wanted to take her mind off what had gone on and Elizabeth would traditionally
run the house, this is her working space.
Feedback that we were given was that my movement and body language were
unclear in regards to what I wanted to convey through them. I was feeling
estranged - but the audience said that the lack of movement conveyed that I was
comfortable in Elizabeths company. I think I would need to use my
physicalisation and voice to show the distance more.

W/C 233

The Crucible
In this lesson we focused on the relationship between Proctor and Abigail. We first familiarized ourselves with a
conversation they had in Act 1. We then debated about with our partner what there subtext was. Subtext is the
unspoken thoughts and motives of your characters (what they really think and believe). It was interesting to see
how subtext can be interpreted in so many different ways. An example of this is when Proctor says, Abbey,
thats a wild thing to say, this could be interpreted that he thinks on it as unreal, or he could actually like it and
see it as some sort of game. This was important to Stanislavski because he thought that when people act without
using subtext, its the same as just reading a book; he said. This reiterated the importance that subtext played in
the Stanislavski System. We then did the same thing with another scene with the conversation between Proctor
and Elizabeth but focused more on the proxemics and body language. When one grouped performed, the wife
kept trying to make physical contact but Proctor didnt seem to be interested. This Portrayed to the audience that
Elizabeth was trying to sustain the marriage and Proctor wasnt. Another group portrayed the same thing but
instead of Elizabeth making physical contact, she was constantly fiddling with her fingers, implying to then
audience she was nervous while Proctor just carried on as normal as if he didnt care his marriage was empty. I
learnt that Subtext is an important part of Stanislavski system because it shows what the character is feeling
without saying it, which might have given of more emotion.

In class, I and Maya explored non-verbal communication through a scene in Act 2

of The Crucible between John and Elizabeth Proctor. Due to the affair that John
had with Abigail, the relationship is cold and they are not as close and loving as

they used to be. To convey this to the audience we used proxemics and stood
apart from each other.