Page 167 - Theatre_Arts_Form_5

Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools

FOR ONLINE READING ONLY

Figure 6. 11: Example of painting for theatre performance

Advantage of visual (non-verbal) language

Visual language is considered more powerful than spoken language. Visual
language has the following advantages over spoken language:

(a) It provides emotional depth and context to the messages. Visual language
is best in communicating emotions to the audience even better than
spoken language. This is especially in cases where characters are required
to express feelings and attitude whereby the use of facial expressions and
gestures can be applied.

(b) Visual language overcomes language barriers. Visual language is
universal. It is a very powerful tool used to communicate with people
belonging to different linguistic background. In theatre context, visual
language helps the audience who do not belong to a particular speech
community to understand the message similar to those belonging to that
linguistic background.

(c) It uses visual aids. Visual language includes visual aids such as, images
and diagrams to convey meaning to the audience. When used in theatre
performance, visual aids transcend language barriers. They help to clarify
complex messages or concepts in a theatrical performance.

157 Form Five

28/06/2024 15:05
THEATRE ART F5 fnl.indd 157 28/06/2024 15:05
THEATRE ART F5 fnl.indd 157