William De Paula gave a strong, continuous performance as Caliban throughout the play, with his mysterious and animalistic mannerisms. At the beginning of the play, De Paula comes out from behind the favelas slowly, with his arms reaching up, peering over and perches on top of the mountain. This makes us feel as though he has a sense of control over the city and watches over them yet it also it makes us feel as though he is guarding and protecting them. We then see him open up from this controlling character into a passionate and confident singer. He does this by picking up a stick instrument and singing a song. Although the song is sang in Portuguese, De Paula sings it with such passion and emotion we can tell it is not a happy, upbeat song. I liked the way that he didn’t smile during the song; he just looked into the audience’s eyes seriously which put us into the right mood for the rest of the performance.
When Prospero, Miranda and Antonio enter Caliban’s party, we can sense a tense atmosphere by the way the actors expressed their facial expressions. De Paula’s face dropped when he saw Prospero but boldly walked across the room with his chest high and his head upwards as to appear not to be afraid. After talking to Prospero his actions and mannerisms changed as he talked to Miranda. He behaved gentler with his movements less harsh and brash. In general, when around Miranda, he acts more intimate by standing closer to her and carrying her around. When he dances with her at the party, he smiles a lot which shows a different side to him. Although he seems nice and gentle we can see that he can influence and manipulate Miranda by his actions but more importantly his facial response to the consequences. For example, when he turns her into a dove for the first time and she’s quite awkward when walking/flying, De Paula does not try to help her, just stands there smiling. He also persuades her to change the flower in her hair, from her Dad, to one from him. He does this by comforting her with a calm tone and making her feel special by giving all his attention and eye focus to her.
I especially liked De Paula’s movement across the stage when travelling to and from Miranda’s house. He would crouch low, hunch his back and move fast. This gave us the impression that he was an animal, a panther to be specific, so more symbolism was used here. Most of these journeys took place in the night so this suggested that he was sneaking around trying to be quiet. This suggests that he is cunning because he tries so hard to be quiet and not to wake Prospero and Antonio. Panthers do these actions when preparing to attack their prey. By De Paula copying this, he made the audience feel as though he was spying on Miranda, as if she were his prey. Other actions, such as back flips, forward rolls and leaping across the stage, also contributing in creating the panther side to Caliban.
I like the way in which De Paula’s emotion during the play was very varied. He changed from to another clearly and effectively by his change of facial expressions and change in gestures and movements. When Caliban was content, he would smile and move quite slow and gently. His tone of voice was calmer and he didn’t use his hands to enhance what he was saying and his emotion. I liked the continual way Caliban would point his finger at Prospero and raise his voice. This let the audience know that he was angry and frustrated with Prospero and wanted his attention. His voice change told us that Caliban had a short temper and made us fearful of him when he came up close to the audience. When angry he made his movements brasher and sudden which made the audience more jumpy.
Fighting and stage combat was another technique used by De Paula to vent his emotion towards the end of the production. Caliban fought Prospero twice and their scenes consisted of leaping at one another, punching and quick dodges. I thought that the punches thrown by De Paula weren’t very realistic as you could see that they posed. They were also thrown quite slowly which wasn’t very realistic. I think that this scene should have been performed at a faster pace in order to keep the audience’s attention and the realism of the play. One good thing about his performance during this scene though was the fact that he behaved like a panther again. This showed us that he changes to a panther when he changes emotion; happy to angry.
Another performer who I thought stood out was Mariana Whitehorse who acted as Miranda. She gave a gentler performance to the other characters and acted the role of an innocent daughter growing up excellently. At the start of the production, Miranda enters behind her father, Prospero, whilst he searches the stage. She appears to be inquisitive as she stands on the decking of the house and looks around with a smile on her face and her eyes wide. When she finds a guitar she hands it to her father and he starts to play a tune. Miranda turns from this shy, mellow girl into a passionate and confident singer, much like Caliban by singing loudly and smiling as she performs. She danced all the way through the song which implied that she liked the song and enjoys coming out of her shell. I liked the way that Whitehorse made eye contact with the audience as it showed that she was more confident.
Miranda often skipped, walked with a jump in her step or ran lightly toward people. This suggested that she was still behaved in a childish manner and was always happy to see people. For example, when she saw Antonio, she ran towards him, almost leaping, which suggested that she was happy to see him. She then began to act more confidently around her father by asking him more things such as to go to Caliban’s and looking him in the eye. When she did not get her own way, she often threw a tantrum; pleading in her voice and walking around in an upset way. This also enhanced our view of her personality and showed that even though she wants more freedom, she acts like a child.
I thought the intimacy between Miranda and Caliban was played very well. When Miranda saw Caliban for the first time in the play we immediately saw a change in emotion from Whitehorse. She smiled a lot when she was around him and the audience could see a sparkle in her eye when she was dancing with him. When he began to chase her around the room whilst she was dancing, she giggled which is a very childish act. It also shows the audience that she has a good time around Caliban. Although Miranda was fascinated by Caliban and wanted to be with him, Whitehorse continued her inquisitive nature about her by asking lots of questions and demanding an answer.
Whitehorse generally kept a good connection between her and other characters, because not only did the rapport between her and De Paula work well, the rapport between her and Santinho seemed real too. The audience could see that Miranda and Prospero were daughter and father and Whitehorse acted this well. The way in which she spoke to her father was very childish for a daughter as old as she was portrayed. This suggested that she still wanted her father to treat her as a child at home but wanted a little more freedom outside. Although parents and children often disagree, I feel that Whitehorse didn’t play the role of an upset teenager as well as her other emotions. She just resided to her bedroom weeping and then suddenly started begging Antonio to let her out. I feel that the way in which she did this was very cunning and totally out of character.
I did like the way in which Whitehorse moved on stage when she was a dove. She began to move very awkward and jerkily as she was just getting to grips. However her face was serious and she was determined to master the gracefulness of a dove. As the play went on, Whitehorse grew more graceful and I think this was symbolised by the tree next to Miranda’s bedroom. In the end she performs the role of a dove very easily and dreamily by her at moving faster pace and in a larger space.
Silence for under-water then noise for above.
Although Knock Against My Heart has clear references to The Tempest, it is very original, depending on movement rather than dialogue.
Heavy on symbolism, Knock Against My Heart requires you to interpret much of the scenes.