Prior to my attending this production my knowledge of Laramie was quite basic. I knew the Jimmy Young hit, 'The Man From Laramie' and I had even visited the town on a whistle-stop USA tour myself in 2000, but knew nothing of the apparent homophobic murder that took place there in 1998, and the ensuing infamacy that this brought to the rather insular and parochial township in middle America.
This is where this play starts. Written by Moises Kaufman along with The Tectonic Theater Project, this is far less of a play and much more of a historical news documentary. There is no conventional plot or character interaction as such, instead, a narrator, actors acting members of the Tectonic Theater Project [who would have been the original actors themeselves on its premiere], and the rest of the large cast are given monologues and vignettes as citizens of Laramie who were concerned with or affected by this crime, including the two young men who committed it. The play serves as a historical record of research, verbatim interviews and testimonies, etc gathered by not only the law enforcement but also the Tectonic Theater Project team themselves too. This was obviously a labour of love for them, and a story they really wanted, nay needed, to retell.
Whether or not that story is still relevant and needing to be told in the UK in 2019 is perhaps debatable; however that does not lessen the tragedy, nor the impact of it. And judging by the sincerity and dignity with which the cast of 25 - all young students in their 2nd year of the Acting For Live And Recorded Media degree course at Arden - this was a story which had touched their hearts and sensibilities too. The rather disappointingly small matinee audience were incredibly quiet throughout the play, and their almost formal and reverential standing ovation at the end was the quietest and most dignified I have ever witnessed, and we all left the theatre in silence.
Due to the nature of the writing of this play, it is quite static and lacking dynamics, and is narrative heavy and very wordy. However director Tim Flavin had made good use of his stage space / design, and there were some lovely 'pictures' created when most or all the cast were on stage together. The set itself consisted of podia set at slanting angles and a few steps; the back wall was given over to a large screen upon which real photographs of both Laramie and the people involved were projected to give this re-enacted docu-drama more credence and realism. Although quite 'modern' in feel, this was not dissimilar to the original stage design used by the company in 2000. This play lends itself very easily to the Brechtian theatre principals, and Flavin's directing echoed this superbly. Costuming was kept to a minimum and costumes were changed sometimes on stage; the characters were 'announced' by the narrator as they spoke, and there was even singing in there too. The direction was solid and truthful, and also very importantly, fluid. The play was continually on the move as actors entered for their scene during the scene prior to it and there were even times when the speaking overlapped as it would in normal conversation. This was necessary otherwise the play would just have ground to a halt. However the play never felt rushed. On the contrary, it still had a very steady pace which seemed to take it's breaths at the same rate as the Laramie citizen.
It was definitely a hard watch, and full credit must be given to all 25 actors / actresses who portrayed a staggering 69 characters between them. That in itself takes some doing! My only negative criticism is - and this is by no means a new jibe for me - that the vocal projection was distinctly lacking from many this afternoon. I don't understand modern thinking in drama training at all. Projection, enunciation and audibility were paramount and took up a very large part of my drama school training. These days, microphones and technology in general seem to be being given the same amount of emphasis - however, how does the actor cope when asked to perform in a studio theatre un-mic'd, or if technology suddenly fails and he needs to continue the scene on a large stage without amplification? Seemingly very few seem prepared for that these days, and that is such a shame.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 22/3/19
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