Andrea's+Tulsa+Paper

Andrea Beltran THEA2100H Farley Richmond October 5, 2010 // The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild: A Road Trip //  The Theater Department at the University of Georgia recently presented a show with the intriguing title // The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild: A Road Trip. //The play tells the story of Tulsa Lovechild, the play’s protagonist, and the journey that she makes after the death of her mother to scatter her ashes at Bob’s Exit 238 American Hotel in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Caught in a crossroads at the age of thirty, Tulsa is jobless, alone, and unsure of what to do now. Tulsa’s road trip leads her to discover a sense who she is and what she can be as she crosses paths with the other characters whose stories intertwine with Tulsa’s. The transition of // Tulsa // as a text can be analyzed in regards to how the actor’s delivered the words on the page and what emotions they expressed as well as through lighting, costumes, and sound.  The actors in a play take simple words off a page and bring them to life through tone, facial expression, and intonation. The actors of // Tulsa //took the words of a playwright and gave them life and meaning. Ed, the Hollywood actor, spoke words of maturity and declared that he was done with acting, but through the actor’s use of tone Ed’s words were contradicted by a childish intonation that suggested that Ed was indeed still a child who was still nothing more than a “boy detective”. Meeting Tulsa and falling in love with her parallels the self-discovery that Tulsa experiences through her interactions with Ed. Bob’s accent, a feature that does not translate through the reading of text, is clearly demonstrated by the actor that plays him. His accent helps with the foreign characterization of Bob and in understanding him as a man with pride in what he has created because of where he came from. All of the actors portrayed their characters in unique matters that conveyed many of their personality traits in ways that written words could only hope. Dramatic monologues by Tulsa and Woody impacted the audience more than written word through facial expressions and heavy tones. Clyde’s ignorance is expressed through pauses and a plethora of mystified facial expressions. Every detail of a character was taken on by the actors who brought them to life.  While acting can become the main focus of the mind while viewing a show, it is important to consider all the other elements that bring a show to life. Without a set, costumes, lighting, and sound a show would be lost in the confusion of where an actor is and how the show is progressing. The set of Tulsa situates the audience in a hippie world of chaos with its upside down signs, sky ground, massive bell, and oversized phone booth. The addition of human clouds that move the set pieces and function as whatever the scene necessitates also adds to this upside down world. The costumes were overall very fitting to each individual character, but didn’t complement the bizarre set in the least. The characters of Ed, Clyde, Sylvia, Bob, and Kelli Jo are perfectly personified by their variety of nice garb, country overalls, hippie outfits, American décor, and showy dress but don’t quite reflect the eccentricity of the setting. Costume choices do help portray many of the characters. Valerie and Rose are characterized by their outfits before they even utter a word. Valerie’s conservative dress opposes Rose’s tight jeans and skimpy shirt, a major difference between the two that is later confirmed through exchanges between the Siamese twins. When words are read within the context of a play it is easy to decide who to focus on based on who is speaking the words that are being read. When these same words take place on a stage, it is harder to focus simply on the speaker due to the variety of other actors and actions that are taking place on the stage at the same time. Lighting aids in focusing the attention of an audience member in the correct direction. While the Cellar Theater in which // Tulsa //was performed is a small playing area, the extent to which it can be lit is massive. The one character in upstage left can be lit, or the entire upstage left can be lit. This ability of a light to focus attention was especially important when multiple characters were set up on the stage at one time and the action changed between the groups of characters. The shifting in what area of the stage was lit up directed the audience’s attention and assisted them in not getting confused. Dim lighting also set the mood of certain scenes such as when General Pike resurrects from the dead while Rose and Valerie sleep. Sounds were mostly employed in // Tulsa //through music snippets in between each scene. This brilliant choice and the fitting choice in songs helped to establish the mood of every upcoming scene. While this is an odd occurrence in the theater, it fit perfectly into the weird nature of the show. The sound of the howling dogs in the earlier scenes with Valerie and Rose also set the stage for the sketchiness of General Pike’s whole organization. All of these aspects worked hand in hand with the actor’s portrayal of the characters to create a complete understanding of the text.  The reaction of an audience is also something that a playwright cannot include and can only be captured during a live performance. While // Tulsa //has a serious feeling about it, with Tulsa’s self-discovering journey and all the other stories intertwined, it is mostly comprised of comedic elements intended to amuse the audience. The progression of the play depends a great deal on the reaction that becomes expected from the audience, in this case laughter. The audiences’ laughter provides the cast with something to feed off of and work with. A dead audience results in a similarly dead show. Luckily, the audience in attendance reacted perfectly to all jokes and expressions and even found comedy in unexpected lines. The audience comments after the show were also quite favorable even though many people felt like they had just gone on a mind trip. The audience felt Tulsa’s journey within them and realized that she was not simply returning her mother to where she had been happy but also discovering that Tulsa, OK was where she would discover herself. Personally, I connected with Tulsa’s confusion in finding love and constantly living in a pessimistic state. It was reassuring that while Tulsa “discovered” herself she didn’t immediately change and go live a happy life with Ed. Instead she retained the aspects of a dynamic character and still kept parts of her former self. // Tulsa //was a very thought provoking show that I would recommend in a heartbeat and would gladly see again.