Betty’s Summer Vacation
Betty’s Summer Vacation
By Christopher Durang
Tulane University Department of Theatre
Directed by Ron Gural
Scenic Design by Leah Farrelly
Betty’s Summer Vacation is a dark comedy about a group of young people renting rooms in a beach house for the summer. They immediately notice that there are voices and laughter coming from the walls. The characters are over-the-top, but the setting reflects an authentic, contemporary interior. The general lighting was primarily realistic with a twist of color reflecting the absurd world of the play. Since there were no windows in the set, I created the effect of windows using gobos. Special effects were also created with lighting for a couple of twists and turns in the storyline.
This scene is the pre-show look
Betty and Trudy arrive at the house and start to settle. The scene takes place early in the day so the lights are bright, like the inside of a beach house on a sunny day with the windows open.
The sun is setting outside as Mrs. Sizemegraff tells Betty and Trudy about the visitor that she has invited to dinner.
Their dinner guest, Mr. Vanislaw (who just so happens to be a flasher), shows off his goods during a charades game after dinner.
Betty begs the voices in the walls to be quiet so she can get some sleep. Everyone had gone to bed and the voices were begging for someone to entertain them.
The voices become so restless that they actually come out of the wall. A gobo chase, strobe and fog accent this unbelievable moment.
Ketih dances for the voices who are demanding to be entertained. It is the middle of the night.
A colorful introduction to the Court TV enactment that the residents have obliged to perform for the voices.
Mrs. Sizemegraff pleads for Trudy’s defense during the Court TV scene. Trudy is highlighted as she is being questioned on the stand.
Putting an end to the insanity, Keith lights the house on fire. The flames in the effect are created with rotating gobos in intelligent fixtures and a roscoe moving flame effect.