The Laramie Project
Tue, 8 Mar 2005, 08:34 amWalter Plinge3 posts in thread
The Laramie Project
Tue, 8 Mar 2005, 08:34 amHi there
I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
The Laramie Project
Reviewer Helen Thomson
March 7, 2005
By Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Laramie, Wyoming, is not the kind of place where revolutions are made or movements begun. But when a young gay man was bashed and left tied to a fence to die outside the town, a significant change began. It was recorded, and in part created, by a theatre company, Tectonic Theatre Project, which visited the town and interviewed 200 people over two years. The Laramie Project is the play that resulted, a remarkably complex theatre piece in which eight actors take turns to step forward and speak, in many different roles, giving testimony to events, feelings, opinions and recollections of an event that left none untouched.
The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good: intensely moving and utterly convincing. The actors bring small-town America to life in a way that illuminates the paradoxes and puzzles of the "American way". There may be brief moments when the play seems slightly preachy and over-sentimental, but its moral earnestness demands respect.
Matthew Shepard's pitiful death was not simply the result of a collision with the red-neck values outsiders presume rule in America's far west. That is not the way the people of Laramie see themselves. His death was shattering because it threatened the presumptions of decency, tolerance, religious faith and simple living that made them proud citizens.
Representatives of the many churches in the town turn out to have very different degrees of tolerance for sexual difference, and they are not always predictable. Sometimes residual homophobia seeps from unlikely places as people make some attempt to excuse the two boys who, until they became killers, seemed ordinary, conforming locals.
The final brief scenes from the courtroom are enormously moving, coming after the whole town has, in effect, given evidence. It is the town that is on trial as well, and when Matthew's father speaks against the death penalty for the main perpetrator, it is an act of mercy that partly restores the town's faith in itself.
This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
The Laramie Project
Reviewer Helen Thomson
March 7, 2005
By Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Laramie, Wyoming, is not the kind of place where revolutions are made or movements begun. But when a young gay man was bashed and left tied to a fence to die outside the town, a significant change began. It was recorded, and in part created, by a theatre company, Tectonic Theatre Project, which visited the town and interviewed 200 people over two years. The Laramie Project is the play that resulted, a remarkably complex theatre piece in which eight actors take turns to step forward and speak, in many different roles, giving testimony to events, feelings, opinions and recollections of an event that left none untouched.
The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good: intensely moving and utterly convincing. The actors bring small-town America to life in a way that illuminates the paradoxes and puzzles of the "American way". There may be brief moments when the play seems slightly preachy and over-sentimental, but its moral earnestness demands respect.
Matthew Shepard's pitiful death was not simply the result of a collision with the red-neck values outsiders presume rule in America's far west. That is not the way the people of Laramie see themselves. His death was shattering because it threatened the presumptions of decency, tolerance, religious faith and simple living that made them proud citizens.
Representatives of the many churches in the town turn out to have very different degrees of tolerance for sexual difference, and they are not always predictable. Sometimes residual homophobia seeps from unlikely places as people make some attempt to excuse the two boys who, until they became killers, seemed ordinary, conforming locals.
The final brief scenes from the courtroom are enormously moving, coming after the whole town has, in effect, given evidence. It is the town that is on trial as well, and when Matthew's father speaks against the death penalty for the main perpetrator, it is an act of mercy that partly restores the town's faith in itself.
This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
Walter PlingeTue, 8 Mar 2005, 08:34 am
Hi there
I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
The Laramie Project
Reviewer Helen Thomson
March 7, 2005
By Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Laramie, Wyoming, is not the kind of place where revolutions are made or movements begun. But when a young gay man was bashed and left tied to a fence to die outside the town, a significant change began. It was recorded, and in part created, by a theatre company, Tectonic Theatre Project, which visited the town and interviewed 200 people over two years. The Laramie Project is the play that resulted, a remarkably complex theatre piece in which eight actors take turns to step forward and speak, in many different roles, giving testimony to events, feelings, opinions and recollections of an event that left none untouched.
The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good: intensely moving and utterly convincing. The actors bring small-town America to life in a way that illuminates the paradoxes and puzzles of the "American way". There may be brief moments when the play seems slightly preachy and over-sentimental, but its moral earnestness demands respect.
Matthew Shepard's pitiful death was not simply the result of a collision with the red-neck values outsiders presume rule in America's far west. That is not the way the people of Laramie see themselves. His death was shattering because it threatened the presumptions of decency, tolerance, religious faith and simple living that made them proud citizens.
Representatives of the many churches in the town turn out to have very different degrees of tolerance for sexual difference, and they are not always predictable. Sometimes residual homophobia seeps from unlikely places as people make some attempt to excuse the two boys who, until they became killers, seemed ordinary, conforming locals.
The final brief scenes from the courtroom are enormously moving, coming after the whole town has, in effect, given evidence. It is the town that is on trial as well, and when Matthew's father speaks against the death penalty for the main perpetrator, it is an act of mercy that partly restores the town's faith in itself.
This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
The Laramie Project
Reviewer Helen Thomson
March 7, 2005
By Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Laramie, Wyoming, is not the kind of place where revolutions are made or movements begun. But when a young gay man was bashed and left tied to a fence to die outside the town, a significant change began. It was recorded, and in part created, by a theatre company, Tectonic Theatre Project, which visited the town and interviewed 200 people over two years. The Laramie Project is the play that resulted, a remarkably complex theatre piece in which eight actors take turns to step forward and speak, in many different roles, giving testimony to events, feelings, opinions and recollections of an event that left none untouched.
The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good: intensely moving and utterly convincing. The actors bring small-town America to life in a way that illuminates the paradoxes and puzzles of the "American way". There may be brief moments when the play seems slightly preachy and over-sentimental, but its moral earnestness demands respect.
Matthew Shepard's pitiful death was not simply the result of a collision with the red-neck values outsiders presume rule in America's far west. That is not the way the people of Laramie see themselves. His death was shattering because it threatened the presumptions of decency, tolerance, religious faith and simple living that made them proud citizens.
Representatives of the many churches in the town turn out to have very different degrees of tolerance for sexual difference, and they are not always predictable. Sometimes residual homophobia seeps from unlikely places as people make some attempt to excuse the two boys who, until they became killers, seemed ordinary, conforming locals.
The final brief scenes from the courtroom are enormously moving, coming after the whole town has, in effect, given evidence. It is the town that is on trial as well, and when Matthew's father speaks against the death penalty for the main perpetrator, it is an act of mercy that partly restores the town's faith in itself.
This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
crgwllmsThu, 10 Mar 2005, 09:17 pm
Re: The Laramie Project 'review'
The Act-O-Matic 3000 Inc. wrote:
>
> I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of
> posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
Hi guys. Sounds like your show, as usual, is going well, and you deserve great reviews.
I hesitate to call this one a 'great review', though, because it astounds me how little reviewing OF THE PRODUCTION is being done...
> The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good:
> intensely moving and utterly convincing.
> This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
...That's pretty well it!
All the rest, while sounding totally positive, is merely talking about the story or the script; nothing which couldn't be found in an enthusiastic press release. I'd love to hear some reviewers' opinions about the choices made by the director, actors, and production team, because I have no doubt it's not just the author who deserves them.
All the best with your show
Cheers
Craig
>
> I thought I'd save reviewer, Helen Thomson, the effort of
> posting her review as it appeared in The Age yesterday...
Hi guys. Sounds like your show, as usual, is going well, and you deserve great reviews.
I hesitate to call this one a 'great review', though, because it astounds me how little reviewing OF THE PRODUCTION is being done...
> The acting, directed by Chris Baldock, is outstandingly good:
> intensely moving and utterly convincing.
> This is a first-class production of an outstanding play.
...That's pretty well it!
All the rest, while sounding totally positive, is merely talking about the story or the script; nothing which couldn't be found in an enthusiastic press release. I'd love to hear some reviewers' opinions about the choices made by the director, actors, and production team, because I have no doubt it's not just the author who deserves them.
All the best with your show
Cheers
Craig
Walter PlingeSat, 12 Mar 2005, 01:02 pm
Re: The Laramie Project 'review'
Hi Craig
Thanks for the well wishes with The Laramie Project. It's quite a formidable text and we're really very pleased (and relieved) about the positive response from audience and critics alike. All we can say is that to get a review like that in The Age is worth its weight in gold. Which isn't to say we're not also completely thrilled with these other reviews we've receivedÂ….
The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project, written by Moises Kaufman and members of The Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, scenic design by Janine Marshall. With David Gardette, Ron Kofler, Catherine Kohlen, Olivia Hogan, Paula McDonald, Vicki Smith, Dan Walls and Brett Whittingham. Act-O-Matic 3000 at Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Reviewed by Alison Croggon
Ok, I'll out my own bigotry first: documentary theatre isn't my bag, baby. I usually end up wondering why somebody didn't write a play.
The proper retort is, of course, that a documentary play is still a play, as much an imaginatively-made artefact as any five act tragedy. But in less than scrupulous hand, the knowledge that the story enacted before you actually happened to real people can obscure this simple fact, in the worst circumstances demeaning both theatre and the event it records. In the case of The Laramie Project, which centres on a vicious homophobic murder, this could be an especially difficult problem.
On October 7, 1998 a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, Wyoming. He had been savagely beaten by two local men, and left to die. The crime became an international cause célèbre, a symbol of shocking intolerance and hatred. The impact on the tiny rural town of Laramie was profound, and it is this impact that the play documents.
For the first ten minutes, as the actors earnestly outlined the process of traveling to Laramie and setting up the interviews, I wondered if someone wasn't making a terrible mistake. There's a certain piety in some kinds of American soul searching that I find difficult to swallow. Even by the end, when I was genuinely moved, I still wasn't quite convinced that as a play The Laramie Project was wholly successful. But even given my reservations, which are too complicated to elaborate here, I can't argue with the quality of the work: this is powerful theatre, and beautifully realised by Act-O-Matic 3000.
READ ON AT:
http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
www.stateart.com.au
OR
STAGE :: The Laramie Project
By Richard Watts
VIC | 09.03.2005
A composite map of suffering and small town life, and a moving and magnificent theatrical experience.
Following the brutal hate-crime murder of 21 year-old Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998, Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project made repeated visits to the town, interviewing its residents and documenting the impact ShepardÂ’s death had upon them. The resulting documentary-style play is a composite picture of the responses and reactions of LaramieÂ’s citizens to a particularly brutal murder.
It is not a play about a crime, but a play about the place where a crime took place; about the people who live there and how they feel about the murder of a young gay man. It is also a personal response by the Tectonic Theatre Company to ShepardÂ’s murder, as well as a reaction again the sometimes stagnant language of theatre, which has too often remained mired in the traditions of previous centuries instead of finding new ways of telling the stories affecting us all.
This stark new production of The Laramie Project by independent Melbourne theatre company The Act-O-Matic 3000 is directed by Chris Baldock, and stars eight actors who play an average of eight roles each. The minimalist staging focuses audience attention on the text and performances: instead of marvelling at the artifice of the production we are made to focus upon the lines delivered by each actor in turn. These lines are sometimes moving, sometimes clumsy, but in remembering that these were words spoken by real people struggling to describe the pain and confusion they felt over young MatthewÂ’s premature death, their awkwardness becomes all the more engaging and convincing.
READ ON AT:
http://www.theprogram.net.au/reviewsSub.asp?id=2192&state=1
There were two more, but they werenÂ’t online and I cannot be bother typing them out, but they were a little something like thisÂ…
ItÂ’s a credit to the cast and director Chris Baldock that this spare, simple production is so affecting
The Herald Sun, March 7
The skill with which the actors handle this highly sensitive material is remarkable...
The Laramie Project is performed with utter truth and respect.
InPress, March 9
So amongst these 5 reviews, weÂ’re lucky and managed to get a composite opinion from 5 reviewers. And with The Sunday Age tomorrow, hopefully, 6 opinions covering the performances, text, direction and production quality.
So yeah, all in all, I guess we're very happy.
Book now on 03 8290 7000!
Cheers
Dan
Thanks for the well wishes with The Laramie Project. It's quite a formidable text and we're really very pleased (and relieved) about the positive response from audience and critics alike. All we can say is that to get a review like that in The Age is worth its weight in gold. Which isn't to say we're not also completely thrilled with these other reviews we've receivedÂ….
The Laramie Project
The Laramie Project, written by Moises Kaufman and members of The Tectonic Theatre Project, directed by Chris Baldock, scenic design by Janine Marshall. With David Gardette, Ron Kofler, Catherine Kohlen, Olivia Hogan, Paula McDonald, Vicki Smith, Dan Walls and Brett Whittingham. Act-O-Matic 3000 at Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, until March 20.
Reviewed by Alison Croggon
Ok, I'll out my own bigotry first: documentary theatre isn't my bag, baby. I usually end up wondering why somebody didn't write a play.
The proper retort is, of course, that a documentary play is still a play, as much an imaginatively-made artefact as any five act tragedy. But in less than scrupulous hand, the knowledge that the story enacted before you actually happened to real people can obscure this simple fact, in the worst circumstances demeaning both theatre and the event it records. In the case of The Laramie Project, which centres on a vicious homophobic murder, this could be an especially difficult problem.
On October 7, 1998 a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, Wyoming. He had been savagely beaten by two local men, and left to die. The crime became an international cause célèbre, a symbol of shocking intolerance and hatred. The impact on the tiny rural town of Laramie was profound, and it is this impact that the play documents.
For the first ten minutes, as the actors earnestly outlined the process of traveling to Laramie and setting up the interviews, I wondered if someone wasn't making a terrible mistake. There's a certain piety in some kinds of American soul searching that I find difficult to swallow. Even by the end, when I was genuinely moved, I still wasn't quite convinced that as a play The Laramie Project was wholly successful. But even given my reservations, which are too complicated to elaborate here, I can't argue with the quality of the work: this is powerful theatre, and beautifully realised by Act-O-Matic 3000.
READ ON AT:
http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
www.stateart.com.au
OR
STAGE :: The Laramie Project
By Richard Watts
VIC | 09.03.2005
A composite map of suffering and small town life, and a moving and magnificent theatrical experience.
Following the brutal hate-crime murder of 21 year-old Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998, Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project made repeated visits to the town, interviewing its residents and documenting the impact ShepardÂ’s death had upon them. The resulting documentary-style play is a composite picture of the responses and reactions of LaramieÂ’s citizens to a particularly brutal murder.
It is not a play about a crime, but a play about the place where a crime took place; about the people who live there and how they feel about the murder of a young gay man. It is also a personal response by the Tectonic Theatre Company to ShepardÂ’s murder, as well as a reaction again the sometimes stagnant language of theatre, which has too often remained mired in the traditions of previous centuries instead of finding new ways of telling the stories affecting us all.
This stark new production of The Laramie Project by independent Melbourne theatre company The Act-O-Matic 3000 is directed by Chris Baldock, and stars eight actors who play an average of eight roles each. The minimalist staging focuses audience attention on the text and performances: instead of marvelling at the artifice of the production we are made to focus upon the lines delivered by each actor in turn. These lines are sometimes moving, sometimes clumsy, but in remembering that these were words spoken by real people struggling to describe the pain and confusion they felt over young MatthewÂ’s premature death, their awkwardness becomes all the more engaging and convincing.
READ ON AT:
http://www.theprogram.net.au/reviewsSub.asp?id=2192&state=1
There were two more, but they werenÂ’t online and I cannot be bother typing them out, but they were a little something like thisÂ…
ItÂ’s a credit to the cast and director Chris Baldock that this spare, simple production is so affecting
The Herald Sun, March 7
The skill with which the actors handle this highly sensitive material is remarkable...
The Laramie Project is performed with utter truth and respect.
InPress, March 9
So amongst these 5 reviews, weÂ’re lucky and managed to get a composite opinion from 5 reviewers. And with The Sunday Age tomorrow, hopefully, 6 opinions covering the performances, text, direction and production quality.
So yeah, all in all, I guess we're very happy.
Book now on 03 8290 7000!
Cheers
Dan