Lucas,+Cicero+Gordon

CGLVietnam CGLDesign CGLConcept CGLSpellingBee CGLExtemities My name is Gordon. Im 18 years old and was born and raised in Columbia, SC. I'm a biology major here at UGA. The above picture was taken in Thailand this summer.

Gordon Lucas Dr. Richmond Theatre 2100H 5 October 2010 Critique of "The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild" On September twenty ninth, at eight O'clock PM, I went to the cellar room of the UGA Fine Arts Building to see the production of "The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild." I had previously toured the cellar once with my theatre class and viewed this space as small area with very limited seating. Everything from the walls to the floor of the stage was solid black and the technical equipment seemed very limited. When I entered this space on the night of the play, I was amazed to see how the set had transformed into a brilliant scene. It was completely bizarre but wonderful. The set was painted upside down with a cloudy sky on the floor, upside down road signs, and on the back wall was a mural of an interstate with two rear view mirrors hanging down. This design really helped to capture the essence of the play. The main characters were all struggling with where they stood in the world and therefore the set literally symbolized how their worlds were upside down. The designer did an excellent job in capturing this aspect. Also the crew did an excellent job working with the space that they were given. They were able to use the space given to display flashbacks from Tulsa's present life to that of her mother and father in the seventies. This time change was able to occur with success through the use of the lighting. The lighting designer did a great job in timing and lighting color to show the change in time. When the light was on Tulsa there was more of a blue hue. The lights would then slightly dim on Tulsa and the orange hued lights would brighten on her mother and father. Through this technique the lighting designer was able to achieve this time change within the limited space of the cellar. Overall the audio of the play was right on target. I felt that the music played during the different scenes represented the mood of its corresponding scene very well. The music also did a great job of corresponding to the time and place of the action. For example when Tulsa Lovechild was traveling they played typical road trip songs to give the sense of traveling. Most of the sound effects were on cue. A couple of them that caught my attention were the screeching of car tires sounding exactly when Tulsa stomped the breaks and the shooting of Melvin was synchronized perfectly. There was one moment when Clyde began to drive the tractor and there was a delay in the starting of the engine. While this was a minor mistake, it did not take away from the play in any way and as a whole the sound effects were outstanding. Along with the sound effects, I was also impressed by the attention to small details in the play. In the scene where Tulsa is renting the car and she gives the attendant her credit card, I carefully watched as not only typed the sixteen digit number into the computer, but she also turned the card around to type in the three digit safety code. Clearly exemplifying the thought put into every action. Another example of this small detail was when Bob was sweeping up dirt at his motel. Although he was not actually sweeping anything, he performed the act of sweeping so well that the audience could imagine exactly what he was doing. He swept this imaginary dirt from all direction into a central spot, and after each sweep he would very gently shake the broom as if he was removing any remaining dirt from the bristles of the broom. Both of these actions showed the time and thought put into the script and the actors performed the little things wonderfully. The consideration of small detail in the character's costumes and accents in order to further solidify their identities was outstanding. Bob was dressed in an American flag shirt and spoke with a strong Russian dialect for the purpose of showing that while he is Russian, he loves America and what it stands for. The conjoined twins, Rose and Valerie, each wore different clothing to represent their two different personalities. Rose, who was more timid and reserved, wore a conservative dress. Valerie, who was more spontaneous and adventurous, wore a more revealing outfit. My favorite example of the detail put into a character's identity was with Clyde. From the moment Clyde is introduced one can tell he is a good ole boy from the country. He entered the stage wearing a raccoon skin hat, overalls, boots, and he carried a double barrel shotgun. He spoke in a very slow rural dialect and was given lines to make himself appear less educated. Even when Clyde drops his overalls to urinate during a scene, he is wearing yellow boxers with green tractors. The crew hit the nail on the head when representing these characters. It was apparent that much time and effort was put into their identities and this time and effort definitely paid off with an awesome representation. The action of the play itself was overall very good. I loved the way in which random scenes of the characters' developed background information on each of their stories that ultimately brought them all together in the end. Also the conversations were very entertaining and humorous, but were serious when they needed to be. The director did a great job of balancing serous scenes with humor. After long scenes where emotions were displayed and characters got angry or cried, there would be a scene in which the tension was released through comic relief. I thoroughly enjoyed the comic relief that Clyde was able to provide through his interactions with his beloved Kelly Jo: Clyde kidnapping her from the Miss America Pageant, crawling on the ground sniffing for Kelly Jo's scent, and Kelly Jo kneeing Clyde in the face. There were several scenes towards the end of the play that were drawn out and dull. During the scene where Tulsa talks to Bob about her mother after she had stayed the night in the motel with Ed, I felt it was drawn out and boring. The acting during this scene was a little slow with too many pauses in conversation and not enough physical movement going on. I did not really buy into the sense that Tulsa was emotionally upset. This same dullness was continued when Tulsa was by herself spreading the ashes of her mother. I again felt this scene was boring. There had been a lot of build up about Tulsa reaching the motel to spread the ashes, so when she finally got to the point where she was sprinkling them outside the motel I felt let down by all the suspense that had been created beforehand about that moment. The ending needed a little more excitement and resolve. It left the audience wondering what was going to happen next, but not in a good way. When the play ended I was not sure whether Tulsa and Ed would be together, if the twins surgery would be successful, if Bob and Valeria would be an item, or what would happen to Stockton. In conclusion, I was very pleased with the play. The set design was excellent in transforming the small dark cellar into a magnificent world of color and surrealism. The set also did a great job on playing with the idea of the characters' worlds being turned upside down by literally being flipped over itself. I thought the crew did an outstanding job with lighting and audio in order to capture the changing of scenes and time periods. I was also very impressed by the realism of the play through the careful consideration of small details of the sound effects, character actions, accents, and costume designs. These small considerations definitely added to the good quality of the play and to the identity building of the characters. The play flowed well with a good balance of seriousness and humor up until the ending which seemed a little dull and needed more resolve. Despite this the production was more than satisfactory and was worth the money and time to see.