Director's Notes for
Laramie Project
"The experience of working on the Laramie Project has been one of
great sadness, great beauty, and perhaps most important, great revelations -
about our nation, about our ideas, about ourselves." Moises Kaufman
So rare is the occasion of breathing life into a pice of theatre base
on real life; therefore, such opportunities must not be overlooked.
Our goal with this production has been the same as any other, produce
a quality piece of theatre. Yet, as the process began, we realized that the
stakes were in many ways higher than they have been for many of our other
shows. Being truthful and honest is the ultimate goal for any actor, however
when every word of dialogue is the play comes from factual documentation,
the truch not only becomes a vital ingredient, but the main character which
all of the actors must play.
The day the cast members received their scripts, the arduousness of
their task became very apparent. How does a cast of twelve create and
delineate more than sixty different characters? What questions do you ask
the characters you play when you actually meet them face-to-face? How do
you create an intimate seeting for an audience? How do you effectively
incorporate multi-media? The questions rage on and on, as do those provoked
in the play. We have found many answers, only to trigger more questions.
Tonight, we bring about the truth, from every point of view. You may
not agree with many of the facts you see on this stage tonight. However, we
all leave agreeing on one idea: may this never happen to another human being.
Finally, I am proud to have graduated from the University of Wyoming and call
many of the characters portrayed onstage tonight my friends. It is to those
people I give my respect and gratitude. Each and every one of them stood up
and told their story knowing that the essence of their beliefs would be immortalized
forever. I thank them for taking that chance and for reminding me what good
theatre is all about: risk.
- R. Gavin Mayer