TIMEOUT CHICAGO
Kris Vire
March 9, 2006
The Laramie ProjectBy Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project. Dir. Sean Hargadon. With ensemble cast. Janus Theatre Company at the Athenaeum.It's tempting to call The Laramie Project a foolproof play. The docudrama, built from interviews conducted in the wake of Matthew Shepard's murder, is so well constructed that you might think it would be impossible to screw up. Truthfully, though, there are plenty of opportunities to go wrong. It wouldn't be difficult to go too maudlin or too self-righteous, or to get caught up in attempts at realism. Even the all-star HBO film of the play, directed by Kaufman, went too far in that direction, losing the sense of theatricality that makes a project like this thrive. Luckily, Hargadon hasn't lost sight of that. He and his cast keep things simple. Recurring characters are identified with simple costume pieces; props and design elements are kept to a minimum, allowing the performances and the words of the interview subjects to be the focus. The result is as thought-provoking and as moving as the subject deserves.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Monday, March 06, 2006
LARAMIE PROJECTS PACKS A WALLOP
CHICAGOCRITIC.COM
BY TOM WILLIAMS
Posted Monday, March 5, 2006
Recommended
Janus Theatre’s eight member ensemble landed the powerful, heart-wrenching saga of the horrible hate crime against Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. The famous and saddening story of homophobia gone to extremes is told through the eyes of the Teconic Theater Project under Moises Kaufman’s leadership. This company traveled six times to Laramie and conducted over 200 interviews with everyone involved in the crime from town residents to law enforcement officials to religious leaders covering the complete story in a slick documentary style. Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, tortured and killed by two men simply because he was gay.
Lynn Wirth, Jeremy Schaefer, Seth Remington, Zachary Clark, Laura Schwartz, Jonathan Shalvi, Karen Pappas and Helen Young deftly played dozens of characters using first person narration that aptly told the story with enough background and local color to give context to how and why this terrible crime happened. This is an amazingly well performed show showcasing the versatile talents of each actor.
This documentary completely covers Matthew Shepard’s story that unfolds as powerful journalism and emotionally strong theatre. This approach contains a look into the lowly depths humans can reach when fear, ignorance and bigotry are allowed to exist. Kudos to the cast and director for mounting a fast paced sincere energetic telling of a story that needs to be heard often so it will not be repeated.
The talent of this ensemble is evident as they let the power of the story lead us into compassion for the victim and rage against bigotry. This is a polished production of an American tragedy. I think Matthew Shepard would appreciate the dedication of the Janus Theatre ensemble.
BY TOM WILLIAMS
Posted Monday, March 5, 2006
Recommended
Janus Theatre’s eight member ensemble landed the powerful, heart-wrenching saga of the horrible hate crime against Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. The famous and saddening story of homophobia gone to extremes is told through the eyes of the Teconic Theater Project under Moises Kaufman’s leadership. This company traveled six times to Laramie and conducted over 200 interviews with everyone involved in the crime from town residents to law enforcement officials to religious leaders covering the complete story in a slick documentary style. Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, tortured and killed by two men simply because he was gay.
Lynn Wirth, Jeremy Schaefer, Seth Remington, Zachary Clark, Laura Schwartz, Jonathan Shalvi, Karen Pappas and Helen Young deftly played dozens of characters using first person narration that aptly told the story with enough background and local color to give context to how and why this terrible crime happened. This is an amazingly well performed show showcasing the versatile talents of each actor.
This documentary completely covers Matthew Shepard’s story that unfolds as powerful journalism and emotionally strong theatre. This approach contains a look into the lowly depths humans can reach when fear, ignorance and bigotry are allowed to exist. Kudos to the cast and director for mounting a fast paced sincere energetic telling of a story that needs to be heard often so it will not be repeated.
The talent of this ensemble is evident as they let the power of the story lead us into compassion for the victim and rage against bigotry. This is a polished production of an American tragedy. I think Matthew Shepard would appreciate the dedication of the Janus Theatre ensemble.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
CHICAGO TRIBUNE SEES LOVELY MOMENTS
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
ON THE FRINGE: NEW REVIEWS OF CHICAGO'S DIVERSE THEATER SCENE
By Kerry Reid Special to the Tribune
March 3, 2006
The Laramie Project
The movie "Brokeback Mountain" also inevitably came to mind while watching Janus Theatre's revival of "The Laramie Project," given the Wyoming setting and the gay-bashing death of Matthew Shepard that inspired Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project's portrait of the anguished college town. (One character even talks about the macho cowboy brand of homosexuality.)
But there are also echoes of "Capote" in the story of these New York-based writers who spent months interviewing Laramie residents about the effects on their lives of the crime and the punishment of its perpetrator.This show has been seen in numerous community and campus productions (and in an HBO movie) since its 2000 premiere.
The documentary narrative and emphasis on ensemble acting help this production. The greenness of some of the performers here doesn't interfere with the material -- in fact, the hesitancy feels honest and in the moment, of a piece with the difficulty of the stories being told. Director Sean Hargadon stitches together some lovely moments, and it's hard to keep a lump in the throat at bay when several of the townspeople don angel wings to block out the hateful invective of Fred Phelps. "Do your best to say it correct," a Catholic priest in Laramie urged Kaufman and his co-creators. Hargadon and his company, despite their lack of polish, manage to do just that.
ON THE FRINGE: NEW REVIEWS OF CHICAGO'S DIVERSE THEATER SCENE
By Kerry Reid Special to the Tribune
March 3, 2006
The Laramie Project
The movie "Brokeback Mountain" also inevitably came to mind while watching Janus Theatre's revival of "The Laramie Project," given the Wyoming setting and the gay-bashing death of Matthew Shepard that inspired Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project's portrait of the anguished college town. (One character even talks about the macho cowboy brand of homosexuality.)
But there are also echoes of "Capote" in the story of these New York-based writers who spent months interviewing Laramie residents about the effects on their lives of the crime and the punishment of its perpetrator.This show has been seen in numerous community and campus productions (and in an HBO movie) since its 2000 premiere.
The documentary narrative and emphasis on ensemble acting help this production. The greenness of some of the performers here doesn't interfere with the material -- in fact, the hesitancy feels honest and in the moment, of a piece with the difficulty of the stories being told. Director Sean Hargadon stitches together some lovely moments, and it's hard to keep a lump in the throat at bay when several of the townspeople don angel wings to block out the hateful invective of Fred Phelps. "Do your best to say it correct," a Catholic priest in Laramie urged Kaufman and his co-creators. Hargadon and his company, despite their lack of polish, manage to do just that.
"HIGHLY RECOMMENDED" BY READER
CHICAGO READER
Lawrence Bommer
March 2, 2006
THE LARAMIE PROJECT - Wyoming, the "Equality State," seems to be the place for gay tragedy. Though Ang Lee's Oscar contender speaks for closeted cowboys everywhere, Moises Kaufman's 2000 play reminds us that a real-life tragedy happened there in 1998. Where Brokeback Mountain ends with a murder, The Laramie Project begins with one: the homophobic killing of 21-year-old college student Matthew Shepard. But the townsfolk's reactions--as captured by Kaufman's original Tectonic Theater Project actors, who interviewed and portrayed them--count as much as re-creating the murder. So the challenge of producing this work is keeping what is essentially thirdhand storytelling immediate. Sean Hargadon's taut, true revival for the Janus Theatre surmounts every obstacle to deliver a valuable, compassionate night at the theater.
Lawrence Bommer
March 2, 2006
THE LARAMIE PROJECT - Wyoming, the "Equality State," seems to be the place for gay tragedy. Though Ang Lee's Oscar contender speaks for closeted cowboys everywhere, Moises Kaufman's 2000 play reminds us that a real-life tragedy happened there in 1998. Where Brokeback Mountain ends with a murder, The Laramie Project begins with one: the homophobic killing of 21-year-old college student Matthew Shepard. But the townsfolk's reactions--as captured by Kaufman's original Tectonic Theater Project actors, who interviewed and portrayed them--count as much as re-creating the murder. So the challenge of producing this work is keeping what is essentially thirdhand storytelling immediate. Sean Hargadon's taut, true revival for the Janus Theatre surmounts every obstacle to deliver a valuable, compassionate night at the theater.
FREE PRESS SAYS KEEP IT ALIVE
CHICAGO FREE PRESS
The Laramie Project
By Louis Weisberg, Staff writer
March 1, 2006
The brutal 1998 murder of 21-year-old University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard riveted the world’s attention on anti-gay hate crimes like no such incident has before or since. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with local people about the crime. They distilled their work into a piece of theater as stirring as it is authentic.
“The Laramie Project” is ultimately a searing portrait of America’s hypocritical view of homosexuality. Like most Americans, the good people of Laramie say they hate the sin but love the sinner. They can’t understand how this attitude could have led to a heinous crime that brought the eyes of the world peering in shock and disapproval over their backyard fences.
“Laramie’s live and let live,” says a character early in the play. “We don’t grow children like that,” says another, referring to the killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. This denial is repeated over and over.
As the townspeople cast about searching for God’s meaning in an effort to put closure to the horrible experience, they look everywhere but in the mirror. Finally, toward the end of the play, Muslim college student Zubaida Ula, who knows a thing or two about Laramie hospitality, dares to utter the obvious: “People were going, ‘That’s not how it is here.’ Well, how is it here?” That line, even more than the convictions of McKinney and Henderson and the raw courtroom speech of Dennis Shepard, marks the climax of this work. If only the townspeople knew it.
Like Lanford Wilson’s “The Rimers of Eldridge,” another play that shined a scorching light on small-town bigotry, “The Laramie Project” is presented with minimal props and staging. The actors play multiple characters and switch in and out of them without a pause. This makes for a complex and difficult undertaking, and Janus Theatre Company’s young cast, under the direction of Sean Hargadon, does an admirable job of keeping it believable and absorbing.
“The Laramie Project” is a play that every GLBT person must see, and this capable production provides an excellent opportunity. Kudos to Janus for keeping this story and its message alive.
The Laramie Project
By Louis Weisberg, Staff writer
March 1, 2006
The brutal 1998 murder of 21-year-old University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard riveted the world’s attention on anti-gay hate crimes like no such incident has before or since. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with local people about the crime. They distilled their work into a piece of theater as stirring as it is authentic.
“The Laramie Project” is ultimately a searing portrait of America’s hypocritical view of homosexuality. Like most Americans, the good people of Laramie say they hate the sin but love the sinner. They can’t understand how this attitude could have led to a heinous crime that brought the eyes of the world peering in shock and disapproval over their backyard fences.
“Laramie’s live and let live,” says a character early in the play. “We don’t grow children like that,” says another, referring to the killers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. This denial is repeated over and over.
As the townspeople cast about searching for God’s meaning in an effort to put closure to the horrible experience, they look everywhere but in the mirror. Finally, toward the end of the play, Muslim college student Zubaida Ula, who knows a thing or two about Laramie hospitality, dares to utter the obvious: “People were going, ‘That’s not how it is here.’ Well, how is it here?” That line, even more than the convictions of McKinney and Henderson and the raw courtroom speech of Dennis Shepard, marks the climax of this work. If only the townspeople knew it.
Like Lanford Wilson’s “The Rimers of Eldridge,” another play that shined a scorching light on small-town bigotry, “The Laramie Project” is presented with minimal props and staging. The actors play multiple characters and switch in and out of them without a pause. This makes for a complex and difficult undertaking, and Janus Theatre Company’s young cast, under the direction of Sean Hargadon, does an admirable job of keeping it believable and absorbing.
“The Laramie Project” is a play that every GLBT person must see, and this capable production provides an excellent opportunity. Kudos to Janus for keeping this story and its message alive.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
The Daily Herald Weighs In On Laramie
Holding up the mirror
BY BARBARA VITELLO
Daily Herald Staff
Writer Posted Thursday, February 23, 2006
" the purpose of the playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." -"Hamlet," Act III, scene II
In October 1998, two young men from Laramie, Wyo., beat and robbed Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, tied him to a fence and left him to die.
The nation wondered how such a thing could happen.
Laramie wondered how it could happen there.
Director and playwright Moisés Kaufman wondered why.
During the next 18 months, he and members of New York City's Tectonic Theater Project interviewed residents of Laramie. From those conversations, they created "The Laramie Project," a well-balanced, revealing examination of the murder's impact on the community. The play does what theater should. It holds a mirror up to society. In this case, the reflection reveals bigotry as well as compassion.
Four years after its Chicago-area premiere, Janus Theatre, in a moving, well-crafted production of the still timely "Laramie Project," holds up that mirror again. Coming just weeks after 18-year-old Jacob Robida reportedly shot and attacked with a hatchet three patrons in a gay bar in New Bedford, Mass., this revival reminds us that hate can infect any city.
The play consists mostly of monologues from police officers, clergy members, Shepard's friends, college students and administrators, acquaintances of the accused and other locals. Their recollections drive the story of Shepard's death, the nationwide debate on homophobia and the intolerance it sparked, and the trial and conviction of his killers, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney.
Kaufman and company juxtapose the straightforward narrative with scenes that expose the local psyche and trace the progression from shock and anger to grief and vengeance and ultimately to a sort of reconciliation.
Janus' production, adeptly directed by Sean Hargadon, reflects the lean, understated style that characterizes the Elgin-based ensemble. Hargadon has a good sense of pacing, particularly in the second act where the initial frenetic tempo that accompanies the media onslaught on the town, gives way to the stillness that underscores Shepard's death, which concludes the act.
Joseph Schuman's simple set and lighting suit the play's minimalist style where props are in plain view and (with one angelic exception) costumes consist of a sweater, baseball cap, vest or ID badge.
That spare quality of the production extends to the actors whose mostly understated performances suit the play's reportorial tone.
Karen Pappas demonstrates range and depth, delivering noteworthy performances as engaging old-timer Marge Murray, mother to policewoman Reggie Fluty; a fire-and-brimstone preacher; and a naive young Tectonic Theater member.
Lynn Wirth is quietly effective in her quavering, shell-shocked portrayal of Aaron Kreifels, the university student who discovered Shepard. As a patrolman's wife, Wirth makes the woman's resentment almost innocuous, which adds a chilling subtext to her restrained performance.
While a little young (a problem shared by several male cast members) for the role of Matthew Shepard's father, Dennis, Zachary Clark's sincerity, especially the quiet heartache that infuses Shepard's statement to the court at McKinney's sentencing, makes up for it.
Helen Young and Laura Schwartz share a brief but memorable scene as friends of the accused, a couple of aimless young locals with little ambition and few prospects.
Seth Remington (unsettling as a minister and death penalty advocate), Jonathan Shalvi and Jeremy Schaefer round out the rest of this capable cast.
Schaefer fares best when he doesn't try so hard. His portrayal of Jedadiah Schultz, a 19-year-old struggling to reconcile the lessons of Laramie with his upbringing is less self-conscious than his other roles and thus more convincing. The throaty voice he uses is repetitive and distracting and his performance sometimes feels overwrought.
Ultimately, the strength of Janus' production lies in its simplicity and restraint. That's as it should be. Laramie's story needs no embellishment.
"The Laramie Project" Three Stars out of Four
BY BARBARA VITELLO
Daily Herald Staff
Writer Posted Thursday, February 23, 2006
" the purpose of the playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 't were, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." -"Hamlet," Act III, scene II
In October 1998, two young men from Laramie, Wyo., beat and robbed Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, tied him to a fence and left him to die.
The nation wondered how such a thing could happen.
Laramie wondered how it could happen there.
Director and playwright Moisés Kaufman wondered why.
During the next 18 months, he and members of New York City's Tectonic Theater Project interviewed residents of Laramie. From those conversations, they created "The Laramie Project," a well-balanced, revealing examination of the murder's impact on the community. The play does what theater should. It holds a mirror up to society. In this case, the reflection reveals bigotry as well as compassion.
Four years after its Chicago-area premiere, Janus Theatre, in a moving, well-crafted production of the still timely "Laramie Project," holds up that mirror again. Coming just weeks after 18-year-old Jacob Robida reportedly shot and attacked with a hatchet three patrons in a gay bar in New Bedford, Mass., this revival reminds us that hate can infect any city.
The play consists mostly of monologues from police officers, clergy members, Shepard's friends, college students and administrators, acquaintances of the accused and other locals. Their recollections drive the story of Shepard's death, the nationwide debate on homophobia and the intolerance it sparked, and the trial and conviction of his killers, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney.
Kaufman and company juxtapose the straightforward narrative with scenes that expose the local psyche and trace the progression from shock and anger to grief and vengeance and ultimately to a sort of reconciliation.
Janus' production, adeptly directed by Sean Hargadon, reflects the lean, understated style that characterizes the Elgin-based ensemble. Hargadon has a good sense of pacing, particularly in the second act where the initial frenetic tempo that accompanies the media onslaught on the town, gives way to the stillness that underscores Shepard's death, which concludes the act.
Joseph Schuman's simple set and lighting suit the play's minimalist style where props are in plain view and (with one angelic exception) costumes consist of a sweater, baseball cap, vest or ID badge.
That spare quality of the production extends to the actors whose mostly understated performances suit the play's reportorial tone.
Karen Pappas demonstrates range and depth, delivering noteworthy performances as engaging old-timer Marge Murray, mother to policewoman Reggie Fluty; a fire-and-brimstone preacher; and a naive young Tectonic Theater member.
Lynn Wirth is quietly effective in her quavering, shell-shocked portrayal of Aaron Kreifels, the university student who discovered Shepard. As a patrolman's wife, Wirth makes the woman's resentment almost innocuous, which adds a chilling subtext to her restrained performance.
While a little young (a problem shared by several male cast members) for the role of Matthew Shepard's father, Dennis, Zachary Clark's sincerity, especially the quiet heartache that infuses Shepard's statement to the court at McKinney's sentencing, makes up for it.
Helen Young and Laura Schwartz share a brief but memorable scene as friends of the accused, a couple of aimless young locals with little ambition and few prospects.
Seth Remington (unsettling as a minister and death penalty advocate), Jonathan Shalvi and Jeremy Schaefer round out the rest of this capable cast.
Schaefer fares best when he doesn't try so hard. His portrayal of Jedadiah Schultz, a 19-year-old struggling to reconcile the lessons of Laramie with his upbringing is less self-conscious than his other roles and thus more convincing. The throaty voice he uses is repetitive and distracting and his performance sometimes feels overwrought.
Ultimately, the strength of Janus' production lies in its simplicity and restraint. That's as it should be. Laramie's story needs no embellishment.
"The Laramie Project" Three Stars out of Four
Monday, February 20, 2006
The Laramie Project Still Relevant Today
Greetings!
We just opened The Laramie Project this last weekend. After six weeks of difficult work, the show previewed on Thursday and Friday and opened on Saturday night to a full house.
With the latest hate crimes in Massachusetts and locally in Chicago, along with the Rev. Fred Phelps protesting the funerals of returning dead soldiers from Iraq - The Laramie Project still has a relevance today and speaks to people. It is the type of work that provides many questions and stimulates conversation.
Working on the play has been a wonderful experience. Our cast hails from across the country and brings a commitment and energy I haven't seen in some time. They've continued to grow in their roles and the play seems to take on new life and energy every time it is performed.
We just opened The Laramie Project this last weekend. After six weeks of difficult work, the show previewed on Thursday and Friday and opened on Saturday night to a full house.
With the latest hate crimes in Massachusetts and locally in Chicago, along with the Rev. Fred Phelps protesting the funerals of returning dead soldiers from Iraq - The Laramie Project still has a relevance today and speaks to people. It is the type of work that provides many questions and stimulates conversation.
Working on the play has been a wonderful experience. Our cast hails from across the country and brings a commitment and energy I haven't seen in some time. They've continued to grow in their roles and the play seems to take on new life and energy every time it is performed.
***
You will find links and articles connected with the The Laramie Project. Take the time to get familiar with the work and post any comments you have about our production. Thanks again.
Sean Hargadon - Producing Director - Janus Theatre Company
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