Among the notable acts throughout the production of Spring Awakening, Thomas Nightingale and Chaz May’s performances stood out amidst the rest. Nightingale’s use of body language and tone provided a realistic portrayal of his character’s emotions. While May’s strong projection and emotion provided a more authentic element to his role. Using a combination of strong body language and tone Nightingale was able to portray the genuine emotions felt by his character. This made his performance more realistic and believable. He displayed this use of body language early on in act one, where upon falling asleep in class he is ordered by his professor to recite his Latin homework from memory. Nightingale begins the scene by arranging himself
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I noticed this strong use of emotion late in act one, where he is asked by a friend to beat her with a switch, to which he reluctantly accepts. May starts off by staring at the switch with a blank expression, slowly waving the switch around whipping it in the air. Doing this captured his reluctance, hesitating as to whether or not he should strike his friend. May then starts off slowly and softly striking his friend, as the strength of the strikes increases so does his enthusiasm. May starts to raise his voice and increase the speed of the strikes, he captures this buildup of emotion by grabbing his friend and thrusting her onto the ground in a flash of uncontrollable rage. We see another example of this emotion coupled with strong projection late in act two, where may discovers his pregnant lover has died. When May sees her tombstone, he immediately collapses to his knees in disbelief. Doing this displayed the sense of shock and dismay felt by his character. He begins to whimper while reading the name on the tombstone aloud, trembling in the process and slamming both fist onto the ground. It was moments like these where May’s strong emotion added to the depth of the scene, allowing it to be more genuine. Nightingale and May’s performance were among the highlights of the evening during production of Spring Awakening. Nightingale’s use of body language and tone allowed me to better understand the emotions of his character. While May’s use of strong projection and emotion made his role seem more
I noticed this strong use of emotion late in act one, where he is asked by a friend to beat her with a switch, to which he reluctantly accepts. May starts off by staring at the switch with a blank expression, slowly waving the switch around whipping it in the air. Doing this captured his reluctance, hesitating as to whether or not he should strike his friend. May then starts off slowly and softly striking his friend, as the strength of the strikes increases so does his enthusiasm. May starts to raise his voice and increase the speed of the strikes, he captures this buildup of emotion by grabbing his friend and thrusting her onto the ground in a flash of uncontrollable rage. We see another example of this emotion coupled with strong projection late in act two, where may discovers his pregnant lover has died. When May sees her tombstone, he immediately collapses to his knees in disbelief. Doing this displayed the sense of shock and dismay felt by his character. He begins to whimper while reading the name on the tombstone aloud, trembling in the process and slamming both fist onto the ground. It was moments like these where May’s strong emotion added to the depth of the scene, allowing it to be more genuine. Nightingale and May’s performance were among the highlights of the evening during production of Spring Awakening. Nightingale’s use of body language and tone allowed me to better understand the emotions of his character. While May’s use of strong projection and emotion made his role seem more