LIVE THEATRE MODEL RESPONSES
LOVESONG
Describe how one or more of the actors in a particular scene or section used their vocal and
physical acting skills to create convincing characters. Analyse and evaluate how
successful they were in communicating their character to the audience. You should make
references to:
● The use of voice
● Physical skills
● The actors’ use of space [32/32]
Recently, I saw the Frantic Assembly production of “Lovesong” featuring Sam Cox as Older Billy, Siam Phillips as
older Maggie, Edward Bennet as Younger Billy and Leanne Rowe as Younger Maggie and co-directed by Steven
Hoggett and Scott Graham. The play explores the life of an elderly couple, Billie and Maggie, who we also meet
as a young newly married couple. At times the couples’ stories and dimensions overlap as the older characters
reflect upon their past lives and former hopes and dreams. Bennet and Rowe both used an extensive range of
vocal and physical skills to present their emotions clearly in scene 9, thus creating convincing characters.
When Margaret enters the house she removes her shoes and finds William laying down the kitchen tablecloth
and preparing dinner. She is immediately bombarded by questions from Wiliam which she answers promptly and
readily as if she has rehearsed the answers. This suggests to the audience that Margaret may not be telling her
husband the entire truth which causes them to doubt her story, causing them to become suspicious. As she
comes closer to William, she places her hands deeply into her pocket and observes him as he busily and
carefully prepares the table. When he mentions how she didn’t pick up when he called her room, she hurriedly
replies in a high pitch, “They never said. Reception never said.” Her use of emphasis on “they” and “reception”
helps detach the blame from herself, making her appear innocent. However, her closed body language says
otherwise as the gesture of putting her hands into her pockets demonstrates to the audience that she is hiding
something. From her rigid posture we can see that this secret is such that she must do everything she can to
guard it and prevent her husband from ever finding out. Margaret smiles before commenting that “something
smells good” as she tries to lighten the tense mood by changing the subject and thus trying to avoid a
catastrophe. She slightly raises her voice when saying “You cooked” and continues to smile as she finds this
sudden impulse amusing, unlike William who carries on with his preparations unperturbed. When Margaret sees
this she tries again to make her point through her blatant honesty when she silently regards him before saying,
“You never cook.” This demonstrates to the audience that today is not an ordinary day and while William’s kind
and thoughtful gesture may suggest that the couple will spend the rest of the day pleasantly, William’s tense body
language and lack of eye contact suggests otherwise. In this way, the couple’s contrasting attitudes to the dinner
presents a jarring effect that creates increasing tensions. Margaret’s lack of openness combined with her forced
merriment are effectively shown through her body language and vocal skills which create a convincing character.
Edward Bennet, who was playing the role of William, was also able to communicate his emotions effectively and
create a convincing character throughout scene 9. When Margaret attempted to cheerfully converse with William
he either didn’t reply or gave short, snappy responses. When Margaret was on her way to leave and get
changed, William straightens up and in a clear and defiant tone states, “I did call”, causing Margaret to stop in her
tracks and turn around to face William’s glaring and unblinking gaze. William repeats this statement when he
says “I did call reception,” in order to make his point loud and clear to prevent Margaret from running away.
Through the change in his manner and tone when addressing Margaret, William demonstrates to the audience
the seriousness of the situation through the severity with which he regards Margaret, highlighting his anger at her
for not telling him the truth. William sees this as a breach of their relationship, which is clearly shone through his
serious tone and facial expressions. Margaret tries to briefly smile it off and says.”Weird” but as the silence drags
on even further, she finds it difficult to maintain eye-contact and shifts her eyes to look down which embodies to
the audience her clear sense of guilt. As she finds it hard to speak, she fidgets and when she tries to address
William he interrupts her quickly by saying, “I don't want to know his name.” This shows how he already knew
that she had been talking to another man and this shocking revelation makes the audience understand why
William was on edge, making them sympathise with his character. As Margaret tries to defend herself in vain,
William makes the question more specific and asks directly, “Do you love him?” The swift and accusing tone of
, the question demonstrates to the audience that this has been on his mind for a long time, but now that he has
managed to ask this question he can confirm his worst fears. However, when he repeats the question a second
time, the audience can sense his dread and desperation in his tone and voice, making him appear really
vulnerable, which allows the audience to clearly see his emotions. Therefore, Bennet was able to effectively
portray William’s character and made it convincing through the use of body language and facial expressions.
The actors effectively used the space to show the emotions of the characters at different stages in the scene. At
the start, William and Margaret are seen standing close together as Margaret has just arrived and is merrily
chatting. The first noticeable distance created between them was when Margaret proceeded to walk away to
change her clothes but William stopped her and confronted her. When she tries to defend herself, she moves
closer. This demonstrates to the audience how the distance represents the damage done to the relationship and
how Margaret’s notion of repairing the damage is by decreasing the distance between her and William. However,
this is useless as even when Maragaret was starting to move closer, William turned his back towards her and
simply moved further away, causing her to stop in her tracks. William did this to establish the severity of the
damage done to the relationship and how it would not be easily fixed, no matter how much Margaret tried. When
Margaret pleads with William to not drink, his back is facing her and he proceeds to calmly pour himself a drink
whilst sitting on the kitchen table. This defiant gesture illustrates how Margaret’s opinions don't matter to William
anymore and that he no longer hesitates to do what displeases her. William also uses the table as a level to
make himself seem higher than Margaret and thus in control. However, because Margaret can only see William’s
back, she doesn’t notice that William is tightly gripping onto the edge of the table, making his knuckles turn white.
Only the audience can see this which makes them realise that no matter how stable William wants to appear, the
reality is that his heart has been broken and he needs to hold onto something in order to stop himself from
breaking down. His lack of control is apparent not only in his long rant but also in his shaking hands and the
accumulating sweat on his forehead which he tries to weakly wipe off. At the end of the scene William gets off the
table and reveals that dinner is “only soda” before walking away in long strides while his head is drooped down,
indicating his burning desire to leave and clear his head somewhere far away from Margaret, which is impossible
since the whole house is filled with memories of the two lovers, thus paining him even further. After he exits,
Margaret hides her face in her hands to embody the shame and regret she feels. This constant change in
proximity between William and Margaret demonstrates the changes in emotion and tension that they both felt and
this was communicated effectively through their body language and vocal techniques, thus making their
characters more realistic.
In conclusion, I think the actors did an excellent job in conveying their characters. This is because they both
portrayed tension and conflicting feelings of love and anger towards dishonesty, through their naturalistic and real
emotions. Hencewhy, the raw emotions from both characters made the audience see their vulnerable sides and
this was successful in that the audience empathised with their characters.
