Describe how one or more actors in a particular scene or section used their vocal and physical acting skills to create convincing characters.

In October of this year, I saw stage@leeds' production of SHE, an incredibly moving and informative piece of devised theatre which told the stories of female engineers who pioneered their fields and changed history. The piece was an inspiring and emotional experience for the audience, shown by the standing ovation, which was achieved by the outstanding acting skills of the cast. In particular, actress Lucy Johnson, who played the character of Henrietta Leavitt, pushed her boundaries of both her vocal and physical acting skills in order to portray Henrietta through different stages of her life. Early on in the scene, Johnson uses physicality to introduce the audience to Henrietta's important qualities. Firstly, she often fiddles with the hearing aid on her ear, showing the audience that her character is deaf, which is a defining feature of Henrietta. However this is also used for comedic value, as she turns her hearing aid up and down depending on whether she wants to hear the other characters in the scene. In the first half of the scene, Johnson is constantly looking upwards towards the sky, with a dreamy, blissful look on her face, to demonstrate her love for the stars and astronomy. Johnson's voice is also used to portray this love, as whenever she talks about the stars, the tension leaves her voice and her voice gets higher. This is all contrasted in the following scene, where we see that Henrietta is now sick. Johnson portrays this by slumping over and clutching her stomach, she is clearly in constant pain. She no longer walks in a light and airy fashion but struggles to walk without assistance. Furthermore, her voice is hoarse and she stutters constantly, showing the audience that she no longer has the stregnth to keep up a conversation.