His center was interesting as it shifted from his head, or more specifically his nose, and his groin. Mostly, he would lead with his nose and kept his center at his groin, but sometimes it would switch. This would make him look like he was constantly sniffing around Edward’s business or was ready to sex it up with …show more content…
He was always indirect and circling the king. It was very much reminiscent of a predator and his prey. His steps were overly heavy. You could see him raise each leg high and deliberately stomp it down. You could not help but look at him. However, the way he creeped slowly around the basement-like set made him seem like a snake in hiding. Nothing he did was ever light. His arms, his head, and even his voice was extremely heavy and pointed. He was also like a hulking bat skulking around the periphery. I really cannot get over how incredibly slow his character was. Even his words were deliberately slowed down. There seemed to be a pause between every word. However, I don’t remember noticing a single gesture that he repeated or used to encapsulate the character. Instead, he used a lot of stillness throughout the play. He had a couple different poses, either leaned back with his head up and away in thought or hunched forward aggressively. There was no in between. When he was stayed still in the first pose, it was incredibly frustrating because all I wanted to do was shake him and ask him what he was he thinking about so deeply. Also, watching him interact with Queen Isabella was the most disconcerting because they were having this lighthearted dynamic; however, his movement and his body was still weighed down. Perhaps this weight showed some doubt he might have had in …show more content…
Throughout the show, I kept thinking about how much his movement reminded me of Leonard Snell from The Flash, who was very much a villain. The slow movement and overly enunciated speech was disturbingly uncanny. It was interesting that these were the characteristics that portrayed villainy; slow, deliberate movement and speech. Perhaps, it was the way that you cannot seem to tell what the person is thinking and yet just from listening to them you know in your gut it can’t be anything good. It could also be how the creeping, indirect movement throughout the room made me think of the slithering movements of a snake. It was a clear moment of “oh yes, you’re slytherin,” in terms of Harry Potter stereotypes. Keeping this movement in mind, the most heightened movement I observed for Mortimer was when he was killing Gaveston. Normally, killing a person is not thought of as a slow, drawn out process. It isn’t done thoughtfully, in fact, you would think it would be done quick in order to eliminate doubt. And maybe, this was key. Mortimer stuck to his movement choices when killing Gaveston. He was creeping and slow and deliberate. It was almost like he was enjoying it. This action was also in conjunction with how he denied Edward II’s request to see Gaveston one last time. All of it came together to highlight and enhance his villainy. There was no need for him to do it quick because he did not harbor