Critique of Children's Hour

8/13/2019 Critique of Children's Hour

1/5

Georgia Dubois

Defeo

Repertory Theater

11/12/13 (thats a cool date)

The Childrens Hour

I somewhat recalled reading part of Childrens Hourin Drama, though I was

glad to find I had forgotten most of the plot. This allowed most every aspect of the

fall production to truly surprise me and take me on a couple crazy turns I didnt see

coming. I didnt really have any preconceived ideas of how the set should look or

characters should be going into the performance, which I found more enjoyable than

if I was familiar with the show and would have interpreted the script a different way

than the director. Not knowing the show very well meant I didnt have to work to

abandon these ideas before seeing the production, and instead started with a clean

slate and could absorb any nuance or interpretation in the performance without

taking myself out of the scene to recognize it.

One of the first things to draw attention to when discussing a show is, of

course, the acting. Chloe was absolutely fantastic as Mary. I was thoroughly

impressed not just with her acting, but also with her admirable stamina throughout

the first two acts. It must have been seriously demanding to play such a hyper-active

character, but she did so with few blunders, if any. Id never really seen Elsa in a

leading role before, but her performance was especially powerful. Her display of

benevolent understanding and patient goodwill in the beginning made it all that

more painful to see such an initially strong person crack and crumble in the end.


2/5

And of course Abby Cramer, more often looked at as fierce beltress as opposed to

allstar actress proved to be possibly the most amazing performer of the evening,

as she portrayed a most depressing Mrs. Tilford that one couldnt help but to

sympathize with. Im not certain if it was the text, the way Abby played it, or more

likely a magical combination of the two, but I struggled so hard with loving/hating

Amelia Tilford. (on one hand), she was single-handedly screwing over Karen and

Martha for rumors of an act that isnt truly a sin anyways, and believes a childs

story over three professionals reputation. On the other hand, I couldnt help but feel

sorry for her for falling victim to Marys malice and manipulation. At the time, it was

considered wrong and offensive to be involved in any homosexual relations, and

Tilford was merely standing by the principles of her society, while trying to protect

young children from suffering any hardship. It was hard for her to do so, and she

didnt want to stain the schools reputation, nor those of her colleagues, and Abby

displayed her remorse so honestly that it made me feel for Tilford, and grow even

angrier at Mary for royally destroying everybodys life.

As far as costuming goes, all the choices were simple, straightforward, direct,

and effective. That being said, Amelia Tilfords first costume was kind of strange, at

least when looking from afar. Upon seeing photos of the production, I understood

how the dress laid, but before then, it looked out of place and rather unfit for her

character, and the coloring of the collar bled into itself when seen from a distance.

I thought the choice to change the lighting sometimes when Mary went crazy

was a great device. The switch gave her insanity some shape, and let the audience

prepare themselves for the coming outburst. I dont know if this was intentional, but


3/5

it almost made me more shocked when Mary actually did freak out. I saw it coming

with the lights, which got me on the edge of my seat, but though I knew a eruption

was coming, I wasnt able to predict what the nature of it would be. This kind of gave

it a similar psycho-murder-movie anxiety: you can tell from the music that the knife-

wielding serial killer is coming, but you dont know where hes coming from, who

hes going to get, and how. All you can do is wait in private, sympathetic fear for

whatever poor soul is going to get it. However powerful this lighting was with

Marys freak-outs, I didnt quite understand when the same gobos were used in

other transitions. It may just be because I didnt pick up on the meaning of some of

the gobo uses, but I wish its use was contained specifically to Marys episodes using

it for other troubling times seemed to lessen its effect.On the subject of lights, the

design in Act Three worked really well. Their disarray succeeded to clutter the room

with shadows and gloom (wow no rhyme intended, but Im keeping it).Im not sure if this was

intentional, but they also were able to conceal the packing-up of the room (sofas

covered in sheets, bookshelves more baren) until more light was allowed on stage,

giving that imagery of a has-been home a bit more of a punch.

The set was awesome, and really transformed the stage. I liked how it made

the playing space compact, not as wide and spacy as if the furniture were put on the

bare stage floor. It allowed enough distance between the actors, but was close

enough that it could keep the characters at ends with eachother. Ive noticed that

sometimes in mainstages it can be hard to focus on the people on stage since the

stage itself is drastically larger than the scene it contains, but the set design

eliminated this phenomenon and made the setting look more real, and less spotty.


4/5

Only after seeing the production through do I realize how essential this property

was to this production in particular. When so much of the emotion of the show relies

on pressure and anxiety, it was important to ensure that there was enough space for

the tension to reach across the room, but not enough space that it could risk

stretching until it snapped. Keeping the characters closer allowed for all the

characters emotions to tangle and twist together, sometimes in the most beautifully

loving ways, other times in the most revoltingly grotesque ways. The piece

transformed from the school to the Tilford residence simply and fluidly. I really

liked the choice to keep the set as a whole rather similar between the two settings

though the two households were distinct and different, letting the major aspects of

the environments remain the same made the heavy mood almost perpetual;

inescapable for any characters that found themselves in both settings. And the white

walls were a great canvas for the lighting, Marys metaphorical staining of the pure

white goodness.

The image used for the poster struck me as really clever and powerful. It ties

in nicely to the plot, not just because of the paper dolls line but also because it is

able to depict the essence of the three main entities in the show Martha and Karen,

the students and Mary. Im not sure if this idea was suggested or directed in the

script, but its a really clean, understandable representation that works really well.

The program is also nice and neat. I like that both cast and crew get there own

pictures and space enough for bio. Theres not too much filler in the program, and

everything is presented efficiently and readably.


5/5

Overall, the show was excellent. I only wish I had been sitting closer up to the

stage. From the distance I was at, it was harder to draw my attention in at the

beginning of each act, just because of the vast expanse of audience between the

story and me. But the performance was captivating enough that I fell into devoting

my entire attention to the stage soon enough for each act. Im sure we will, but I

really hope we discuss in class how the lighting and set plans were arrived at. I see

the choices effects in the final product, but for the most part, Im still at a loss for

that creative process of what went into the brainstorming and thought process

behind it. All and all, it was splendid planning, and a wonderful production. Im so so

so very incredibly glad I didnt miss it.

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Critique of Children's Hour