My impressions from moon over buffalo performance

On November 3rd, 2017, my theatre class went to see Moon Over Buffalo at the Ohio University Lancaster theatre, written by Ken Ludwig, and directed by Victor Jones. The play was performed in a proscenium theatre, I feel it had a good effect on the play, it made it like a window looking into someone else’s life.

The set for Moon Over Buffalo was astounding, it felt very realistic for a 1950’s home. The set was bright and cheery, it felt almost like a real home. Yellow walls really made the home seem inviting but also full of life and energy. The setting of the home, made many scenes possible, and safe with George falling all over the place the setting of things made it a safer environment for the actors. The set really worked for the Play, even the little details that were on the walls added to the realistic aspect of it all. Some of the props I found very important used in Moon Over Buffalo were as follows, the alcohol aka the apple juice, and the pile of laundry that George disappears under. The alcohol was important because it plays a key role in the play, without it George wouldn’t get drunk and the plot would have been different, I found it interesting what they used instead of alcohol, apple juice it was the perfect replacement and it wouldn’t bother the actors to drink it. The pile of laundry served two purposes, one it added more of a real home atmosphere to the set, what family doesn’t have a pile of laundry lying around. And two George is thought to be missing but is in fact, blended well under the pile of clothes, it adds some dramatic irony to the play because we as an audience know he’s there but we get to see the characters freak out looking for him.

Lighting was used well in this play, it helped draw attention to what was going on and the use of Yellow as the home’s wall color was a very exciting and inviting choice. At the beginning of the play, the fog was a surprising effect that I didn’t see coming. And when it comes to sound the most important sound was the phone ringing, it had to be right on queue and it was every time.

The costume and makeup designs were amazing, I loved all of them but the most notable were that of Rosalind and Charlotte. Charlottes retro 1950’s blue dress was amazingly designed, I wish I had one like it, It really reflected her character as a well to do material woman. And all of Rosalind’s outfits were innocent and elegant like her character. One costume I felt needed more attention was Ethel’s, she was supposed to seem ancient and her character still had too youthful of an appearance. The makeup effects such as George’s fake elongated nose were meant to be over the top slapstick-ish and they definitely achieved that.

The first character and actor I believe was best written and best performed was that of George Hay, played by Hunter Allen. Mr. Allen did an amazing job, first off he was able to get into all of George’s different personas. For example, when George was being serious he slightly leaned onto his cane, but when he was drunk he was an entirely different person, loud, and flamboyant. Mr. Allen gracefully switches through these physically. Also vocally, he first off gave George an accent, and two was able to yell and slur his words in that accent. This shows amazing vocal range and control.

Another character and actress I believe did a good job was, Rosalind Hay, played by Christina Bernthold, she did a good job physically of seeming annoyed and, trying hard to help drunken George, vocally her voice didn’t do much but she had very good volume control and was able to stay calm even in very funny moments in the play.

One character and actress I feel could have done a bit better was Charlotte Hay, played by Brooke Arnold. Her performance was still amazing she had good vocal range however she had one flaw, she was stage happy, she had a hard time keeping a smile off her face even in serious moments. Other than that she did amazing acting as Charlotte vocally and physically, that one small thing just threw it off.

Something that really caught me off guard in the directing was when I realized looking up when giving lines wasn’t just on the actors, I understand that this was a slap stick comedy show but I don’t agree on that choice, it made it seem too fake that there was no realism to doing that. Other than that all of the casting, and directing choices were great.

Overall I enjoyed the performance, Mr. Allen did a fantastic job as George, and Mr. Jones did great as a director and choosing a cast. I feel that the play still had room to improve, such as Arnold’s stage happy ways, and the actors looking up while delivering lines. But in the end the group performed well vocally and physically.