VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
Language can be written or spoken, verbal (such as spoken words, vocal sounds) or non-verbal (such as physical gestures, movement, facial expressions and body language). Non-verbal language can also include how design features are used in a performance, particularly those elements that contribute to the intended meaning and realisation of a character. For example, consider how a prop can be used in different ways by a character to convey meaning. The writing on the wall in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is another example of how set design used non-verbal language to convey meaning.
Watch how the actors in this modern interpretation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream use non-verbal language to add comedy to the traditional Shakespearean prose. Non-verbal communication, through use of gesture, becomes important when trying to convey the meaning of an Elizabethan text to a modern day audience.
Frantic Assembly, based in the UK, are a renowned physical theatre company, where the non-verbal language is just as important as the words said.