Pallansch,+Jenna

JPExtremities JPSPELLING JPConcept JPDesign JPVietnam

Hi! I'm Jenna--I'm majoring in Chemistry and I'm from Lilburn, GA. I graduated from Brookwood High School and I ran cross-country and track. My interests include hanging out with friends, running, playing soccer and ultimate frisbee, and shopping. My favorite tv shows are pretty much anything that's around thirty minutes long and makes me laugh. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do, but I'm leaning towards something medical--I participated in a teen internship program at Grady Hospital last summer that was actually a lot of fun, so that pushed me in this direction. Anything else you want to know--feel free to ask!



Jenna Pallansch

“The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild” Quirky and endearing, the plot of “The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild” was a good blend of both comedy and tragedy, but the number of characters and subplots was excessive. The surrealistic aspects of the play created excitement in what could have otherwise been a rather dull road-trip, and created a depth to the characters that couldn't have been explored otherwise. However, especially in the beginning, the number of characters created a confusing story. The number of sub-stories caused certain characters to be on stage for only minutes at a time and then disappear for lengthy intervals until the audience begins to forget the details of their struggles and the names of their characters. Towards the end of the play, things began to become much more clear, but certain scenes, such as the resurrection of Reverend Miles still left me confused. Looking back now, I can see his purpose as a shape-shifting character, possibly the embodiment of some form of evil, but I found it confusing throughout the play. This was likely because of the long gaps between his appearances on stage, and simply the number of events that occur in the relatively short performance.

I thought the idea of Tulsa's character was perfectly relatable and relatively realistic—who doesn't know the sheltered college girl with one too many degrees? However, I didn't feel the connection to the character throughout the play. The delivery of the lines felt very forced, and a lot of her lines were spoken too fast to catch the humorous references and the details of her character. Ed's character was even more stereotypical—the almost over-the-hill actor reaching an early mid-life crisis. I thought his appearance really fit the part; the actor had the face of a child-star, hollywood actor. Ed and Tulsa's relationship also managed to avoid most of the usual clichés, but their relationship was rushed which makes sense given the time restraint. I didn't really feel the lead actor and actress had any kind of chemistry, but I'm sure that can be nearly impossible to fake when the audience is barely five feet away. I thought most of the other characters were humorous even if not entirely relevant to the plot. The conjoined twins were almost excessively opposite, but their lines were consistently funny. Miss Nebraska seemed to be constantly yelling, which was fitting given her situation.

The language of the play was a little inconsistent. Bob's character kept up his Russian accent throughout the performance; a factor that seemed a little over the top, but was probably necessary given the number of characters and brevity of the play. Ed went from simplicity to an oddly large vocabulary that seemed out of place at times. His lines seemed very melodramatic and rather unrealistic—which may have been intentional to show his Hollywood background. Clyde and Miss Nebraska both had typical mid-western accents that fit the cliché roles of their characters—Clyde carried around a gun and his combine and Miss Nebraska never took off her crown. I suppose the characters are supposed to be more archetypal as opposed to stereotypical, but that line is somewhat blurred throughout the play.

The scenery was fun and reflected the surrealistic elements of the play. Using the cellar theater, the back wall had been painted to look like the road, with two large screens made to look like rearview windows near the ceiling. The titles of the different beats of the play were displayed on these screens along with a picture. I didn't find the titles a particularly useful part of the play, but I thought the choice of displaying passing trees when Tulsa and Ed were driving was a very clever way of creating the idea of motion. The passing of places and time was easily seen by these screens. The car was a removable portion of the stairs, so it was also painted with clouds to match the floor and the steering wheel was misshapen and silver. The telephone, ringer, and pen at the motel were oversized, and the sign for the motel was written upside down. Also included were “cloud-people” that were an indirect part of the production. They moved scenery around, but also changed costume slightly to reflect a scene and even occasionally participated in a way that reflected the dream-like mood of the play. All of this created a very dream-like feel that made the unrealistic events of the play expected and quickly picked up on by the audience.

I thought the scenery was very appropriate for the play, but it almost dominated the production at times. From the very beginning, as the audience looks across an upside down world with frozen cloud-people in the center, we knew to expect a play that wasn’t strictly realistic, which helped to shape my understanding of several scenes. The background was well-formulated for a play with frequent appearances from dead characters, a shapeshifting priest, and colorful characters. The delivery of the lines and the energy from the actors though, sometimes caused the characters to be lost against the vibrant background and oversized world.

The costumes were on the simplistic, and rather stereotypical, side but I felt that was necessary given the intense scenery and personalities being presented throughout the play. Bob’s patriotic attire was a good reflection of his new-found love for America after defecting from the Soviet Union, and it helped to balance the Russian accent. The conjoined twins’ costumes were exact representations of their personality differences; Rose’s leather jacket and jeans reflected her rebellious and jaded outlook while Valerie’s conservative dress and hairstyle reflected her innocent nature. Miss Nebraska kept her dress and crown for the entirety of the play, just as Clyde kept his overalls and trapper hat. Tulsa was dressed appropriately for her character—sweaters and a long jean skirt with leggings. It fit my image of a typical, sheltered college student with too many degrees and not enough social interaction.

The overall color choice of the costumes I felt didn't mesh very well. Tulsa had one too many colors in her outfit—from purple leggings, to a green jacket, to a yellow blouse. The effect was a little too eye-catching for a style that was going for a subtler image. I also felt that if the costumes were supposed to reflect Sylvia's change from a true hippie to a sell-out, they weren't entirely successful. Like the accents of many of the characters, the costumes reflected the two-dimensional personalities of many of the minor characters. Stockton dressed entirely in camouflage hunting gear, and Melvin wore a white suit when he was the Reverend and a black suit after his resurrection. The choices of all black and white against camouflage and the kaleidoscope of colors seen in many of the other characters didn't mix as well. Ed's more neutral and stylish outfit may have complimented his character but it looked out of place at times—either it seemed too dull or not quite sleek enough. I also think the many colors seen in the outfits of the characters was a little overwhelming against such a colorful background. The blue of the floor was an intense and unnatural blue, and the colors of the props were equally bold. The costumes just continued to add to an already full color scheme.

The lighting that stood out the most to me was the use of strobe lights to create the effect of gunfire when the Reverend was being shot. The effect was a little corny but fit in well with this play where character talk seriously into a telephone about half their body size. For the monologues, the spotlight would be used as everything else is dimmed. The dream sequences were similarly dark, with lighting to create an eerie effect paired with the smoke in the phone booth. I thought the dream sequences were rather successful—I understood almost immediately what was supposed to be occurring and the lighting made the audience aware that certain characters were supposed to be asleep as well as helped to create the surreal atmosphere of the play. The lighting created a very dream-like mood for most of the play.

The music fit in with the different places along their road-trip, and created a sense of motion and nostalgia. There was no background music when people were talking or during actions, but there was music between the different scenes, particularly when scenery had to be changed around. The music was mostly classic rock which definitely contributed to the overall mood of the piece. The transition of time could also be seen through the music as everything from clips of anti-war songs from the 60's to contemporary hits played between scenes.

The delivery of the lines of a lot of the actors felt rather forced, and their expression sometimes seemed off. However, I've never seen a performance in a black box theatre and have never been that close to an actor, so I think it might have been more a lacking in my understanding and appreciation rather than their skills. Woody's monologue seemed out of place, but that's likely because that scene had by far the most serious tone and mood of the performance. I thought the scene of Tulsa eating breakfast with Ed while reminiscing on dinners with her mother and step-father was a little rough but a brilliant idea that was cleverly executed. All of the actors projected well, though at a few points in the beginning, Tulsa was speaking too quickly for me to catch everything that she was saying.

The numerous actions, characters, and speed of the play was a little overwhelming at times. While the mood was undoubtedly supposed to be a little chaotic and just as emotionally turbulent as the upside down world the characters were acting upon, it became confusing in a few scenes. As the play progressed, and characters began to meet up, I felt it became more clear, the characters more understandable, and the humor a little more direct. The transition across time I thought was well captured with references, music, and flashbacks to different scenes in time. The mood of the play was also particularly well-established, at least by the end. The surreal atmosphere was created by almost every aspect of the play and the sense of motion and a road-trip was also well executed with the use of the rear-view mirrors, stereotypical characters from different states, and the music and titles that kept the audience from getting too lost.