Characters & Acting
Contemporary Realism in a High-Tech Dystopia
Click a character to reveal their Eduqas staging and acting profile.
Select a Character
Click a node on the web to view specific naturalistic acting notes for the Mahfouz adaptation.
Callum McGregor
Status: Low (Nought) | Journey: Hope → anger → radicalisation
Callum begins with hope and teenage awkwardness, then faces escalating racism, political pressure and conflict. Later he becomes involved with the Liberation Militia. In performance, keep the contradictions visible rather than reducing the whole journey to one “radical” type.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Earlier scenes: A warmer tone, quicker pace or occasional overlap can support Callum’s ease with Sephy.
Later scenes: Greater vocal restraint, pauses or clipped articulation can show pressure and guardedness. Keep some emotional complexity rather than playing a single “dead” tone.
🚶 Physical Skills
You could contrast freer early movement with more guarded, economical movement later. A militarised physicality is only appropriate if your concept and exact moment support it; avoid making every late scene the same.
Sephy Hadley
Status: High (Cross) | Journey: Sheltered privilege → challenge and resistance
Sephy's journey is about waking up to her own privilege. She starts the play shielded from the reality of Albion's racism, but learns to wield her power to fight the system.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Act 1: Fast pace and rising intonation (making statements sound like questions).
Act 2: High volume, sharp articulation, and downward inflection to assert dominance.
🚶 Physical Skills
In early scenes, she uses nervous, teenage gestures (fidgeting with her uniform). By the end, she adopts rigid, upright posture and sustained, defiant eye contact.
Kamal Hadley
Status: High political authority (Home Secretary) | Role: State and family power
Kamal holds political and domestic authority and defends the Cross-dominated order. He can be played with control rather than constant villainy: public composure, strategic use of status and the moments when family conflict disturbs that control give the actor more to work with.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Clear articulation, measured pace and controlled projection can suggest a practised public speaker. Accent is a production choice; authority can come from who waits for him, who he interrupts and how little vocal effort he needs to command attention.
🚶 Physical Skills
Uses spatial dominance. Often positioned on higher levels (like a balcony or podium). Movements are minimal, controlled, and precise. Never rushes.
Jude McGregor
Status: Low (Nought) | Journey: Anger → commitment to political violence
Jude responds to racism and loss with escalating anger and commitment to violent resistance. Do not play him as “mad” or as rage in human form: track when he persuades, threatens, listens, strategises or loses control.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Interruptions, sudden changes of volume or a compressed, controlled threat are all possible. Vary the vocal pressure so escalation has somewhere to go.
🚶 Physical Skills
Use proxemics deliberately: closing distance can intimidate, but stillness or deliberately holding distance can also create threat. Avoid a permanent clenched-fist/caged-animal physical stereotype.
Meggie McGregor
Status: Low (Nought) | Role: Protective parent under sustained pressure
Meggie represents the exhaustion of living as a second-class citizen. She tries to keep her head down and her family safe, but the system destroys them anyway.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Soft volume, often sounding weary or on the verge of tears. Uses a slower pace, reflecting the heavy burden she constantly carries.
🚶 Physical Skills
Defensive posture. Shoulders slumped, looking physically weighed down. Avoids direct eye contact with Cross characters to demonstrate her subjugation.
Jasmine Hadley
Status: High (Cross) | Role: Privileged but isolated parent
Despite her extreme wealth and power, Jasmine is deeply unhappy, trapped in a loveless marriage with Kamal, and relies heavily on alcohol to cope with her reality.
🗣️ Vocal Skills
Fluctuating pitch and slurred articulation to indicate intoxication. Can snap from a drifting, melodic tone to sudden, sharp barks of anger.
🚶 Physical Skills
Unsteady gait. She often uses props (like a wine glass) as a physical shield. Even when surrounded by family, she maintains wide proxemics, showing her emotional isolation.