The Laramie Project

It seems hard to believe that it was only 6 years ago that a young Matthew Shepherd was beaten and tied to a fence and left to die in Laramie Wyoming. Since then this play has been done in many theaters across the United States and it finally was brought to Bradley University in Peoria.

The set was minimal. There were four screens hanging in the background with beautiful clouds and a blue sky projected on to them, below that was a wooden post fence that stretched the length of the stage and several wooden chairs scattered across the stage. You could hear the howling of the Wyoming wind as the lights dimmed.   The Laramie Project, done in three acts was a compilation of interviews, first hand testimony and documentary, beautifully performed by an ensemble of ten. My hat goes off the following performers: Tiffany Albers-Lopez, Adam Del Conte, Tracy Domeracki, Bjorn DuPaty, Misty Emmons, David Alex Miller, Jason Elliot Pikscher, Matt Rafferrty, Lindsay Saunders and Khatt Taylor. Each one of these fine performers went from character to character by simply changing a piece of clothing or a hat, and the complete character change was astonishing. No big costume changes, no big set changes, this was pure theater. The actors also interacted with video imaging of news footage and slides of Laramie landmarks, complete with a candlelight vigil and ending with a news clip from a local television station on gay bashing in our own community. I certainly hope that the people that were able to see "The Laramie Project" at The Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts at Bradley University in Peoria saw that hate crimes can even happen in your own back yard, and now more than ever, is the time to stop it before it starts.

 

 

 

When Moises Kaufman and About Face Theatre teamed up a couple of years ago to present I Am My Own Wife for a short run in the theatre space at the Museum of Contemporary Art, there was no hoopla. This one man show was a work in progress, which garnered interest and attention, along with its share of speculation about its eventual move to New York, but slipped out of town pretty fast.

Now, after winning many awards, including the Tony and Pulitzer, I Am My Own Wife will be returning to the Chicago stage, this time at the established Goodman Theatre. This follows a very successful Broadway run.
So, the news that Moises Kaufman and About Face Theatre have reteamed to bring an unproduced Tennesse Williams screenplay to the stage, is suddenly big news. Their production, One Arm, is playing at the Downstairs Theatre at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company for only a few short weeks, and it is significant in that it is one of the gay playright's few works to deal so directly with homosexuality. In addition, there is the added drama of exactly where this show may turn up next. In other words, is The Arm the next I Am My Own Wife? Well, yes and no.

One Arm is the story of Ollie, a top boxer in the 1940s, who, we learn from flashbacks, was in a terrible car accident the same night he was crowned champion in his military boxing division. Returning to present day, we see that he has been reduced to the life of a hustler, who roams the country, city to city, barely scraping by, until one night he can't take it any more, and kills a porn director, who traps him for sex. Act II takes place in prison, where Ollie learns to love life again through the thousands of letters that pour into him from all the johns he doesn't remember. Apparently, Ollie was so damned pretty, they can't ever forget him. Neither can the electric chair. The end.

What sounds like a B movie from the 40s is. The adaptation, which combines William's short story from the 40s with the unproduced screenplay from the 70s, announces itself, with the aid of John McAdams'
narrator, as an imagining of what this unmade movie might have looked like. So, throughout the evening, the narrator comes in to tell us things that we really need to see if there is to be any dramatic impact.
He also intones florid, overheated voice over, when not telling us that we dissolve from a close-up to a wide shot, or from a speeding car to a hospital.
The team behind this would do better to free themselves from the source material, and keep the spirit of it, while updating its corny machinations. As it stands, despite an invested, intense performance by Reynaldo Rosales, and a handsome production of versatile scaffolding and flashing lights by scenic artist Christine R.X. Boles, One Arm is nothing more than a curiosity. A period piece with high production values and a strong cast.

If this movie had been produced (of course it couldn't at the time, due to its openly gay subject), it would now be watched as a piece of high camp. Even on stage, where the actors are taking the material completely seriously, occasional laughter can be heard from the audience. I am not at all suggesting One Arm should be produced with a knowing wink and a smirk. In Moises Kaufman's notes on the play, he says that One Arm has long been in development, and continues to be.
Let's hope, he decides to move past both tired irony and the old fashioned plot to arrive at something more honest and telling about where we were as a society and where we still hope to go.