Body Language In Ernest Briggs's The New Mrs. Tesman

Throughout the production of The New Mrs. Tesman, the skill and technique displayed by Ernest Briggs and Kristina Johnson stood out amongst the rest, while the dry and unemotional performance of Matthew Bratko left much to be desired. Briggs and Johnson’s use of body language paired with their sly and conniving tones, provided an authentic element to their performance. However, Bratko’s lack of emotion and poor projection, seemed too scripted and forced, making it difficult to buy into his acting. Among the most effective techniques on display by Briggs and Johnson, their use of body language provided an authentic feel to their characters. This was evident in act one when Johnson’s character was first introduced. Standing atop a staircase …show more content…
This was apparent in act two, where upon learning his wife burned an important document of his, Bratko becomes enraged. During this scene Bratko doesn’t gradually build up his anger, he seems to raise his voice and shout just for the sake of being loud. This lack of passion behind his words made his acting less convincing. There was also a lack variation in his tone during the climatic portions of the production. I saw this in the closing scene where Bratko finds his wife dead. Trying to portray his grief, Bratko simply yells in a monotone voice with no change of attitude, making his role seem too scripted. This lack of conviction often made Bratko performance made his role less convincing. Briggs and Johnson utilized various methods and techniques that proved effective throughout their performance. Their use of body language and tone helped better portray their character roles, making, their performance more authentic and believable. Bratko’s performance, on the other hand was not as persuasive. Bratko’s poor projection coupled with his lack of emotion, made his performance seem disingenuous and