The Visit: Performers' physical interpretation of character (build, age, height, facial features, movement, posture, gesture, facial expression)

The Visit: Performers’ physical interpretation of character (build, age, height, facial features, movement, posture, gesture, facial expression)

Interpreting Character Physicality

Claire Zachanassian

  • Interpretation of Claire’s character is inherently tied to her physical attributes as an aged, wealthy woman. Her physicality should exude dominance and wealth achieved through years of experience.

  • Her age, movement and overall demeanour must project the image of a woman who has lived through harsh experiences, culminating in her hardened outlook on life.

  • Using facial expressions to project an almost emotionless, stone-faced exterior can underline her ruthless nature and the extent to which her experiences have desensitised her.

  • Use of a limp and prosthetic limbs to denote her brutal past and physical scars, making her imposing figure terrifying and pitiful simultaneously.

Alfred Ill

  • Physical interpretation of Alfred Ill involves projecting a recognisable change from confidence to despair as he realises the townspeople are turning against him.

  • Initially, Ill’s movement and posture can reflect his relaxed and confident demeanour, bearing the air of a respected individual.

  • As paranoia sets in, his movements can become erratic and jumpy, with hunched posture and nervous gestures highlighting his growing fear.

  • Ill’s facial expressions become progressively more frightened and worried as his impending death becomes clear, conveying the play’s tragic trajectory.

Townspeople of Guellen

  • The townspeople act as a unit, their physical behaviours should reflect this collective identity as they move from desperation to greed.

  • Initially displaying haggard, weary faces and slouched postures to illustrate despair due to poverty.

  • As they start to hope for prosperity, their movements can become more energetic, their postures more confident and their faces more bright and lively.

  • Their unified, eager facial expressions and gestures can depict excitement and anticipation when hoping to display the moral degradation powered by greed.

Physicality and Theme Connection

  • Overall, performers’ physical interpretation of characters provides essential encapsulation of the play’s themes of corruption, greed, and desperation.

  • The physical transformation of characters as the narrative progresses reflects the moral decay and offers a critique of the damaging effects of capitalism on personal morals.

  • Providing a clear contrast between the greed-driven townsfolk and the lonely but wealthy Claire can underline the disparities in their situations and their shared moral degeneration.