DIRECTOR
Presented by Monash Uni Student Theatre
Monash Uni Student Theatre, August 2008
In October 1998, the town of Laramie, Wyoming was changed forever when 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tortured and tied to a fence in the middle of nowhere - because he was gay. In the wake of this tragedy, New York's Tectonic Theatre Project travelled to Laramie to conduct over 200 hours interviews with the townspeople and their response to the attack.
Their work resulted in one of the most important plays of the twentieth century.
Featuring
Lili Andrews, Jack Angwin, Oliver Coleman, Lucy Hotchin, Lauren Glezer, Joshua Karlik, Lauren O'Dwyer, Clara Pagone, Robbie Philpott, Alex Roe, Cameron Tantau, Marc Tavasz and Emily Wheaton
with Thomas Caine, Simon Eales, Jason Lehane, Yvonne Virsik and Sarah Walker
Photography: Sarah Walker
Directors Notes
I first came in contact with The Laramie Project when I was a teenager. For a young aspiring theatre obsessive, it was an eye-opening experience, the closest theatre can come to documentary. To this day, I have never come across a play like it, and for that reason, as well as its obvious emotional power, it has stuck in my head ever since. I had never considered directing it - with over sixty characters and over fifty scenes, it just seemed too big for someone of my age and experience to tackle. Then again, that may be as good a reason as any to try it anyway; after all, when you find a play you feel as strongly about as I do this one, you're already one step in the right direction.
When I began throwing the idea around, I was sure that someone at Monash University must have done it before. It seemed such an obvious choice for a university of such cultural and social diversity. Maybe it was just too obvious. And through the process of pre-production and casting, I realised just how powerful it was, a bunch of twenty-somethings staging and performing The Laramie Project. In a time when young people feel so strongly about the state of the world, having young people retell the story of Matthew Shepard on a university stage seemed to resonate even more than it would have in the Arts Centre or the Regent. Everyone involved in this production has approached it with tremendous passion and conviction, in order that nothing get the way of its integrity remaining intact. There are no extravagant costumes or sets, no colourful or exuberant lights. Just thirteen actors and the words of the people of Laramie, Wyoming. Just doing our "best to say it correct".
Poster image by Sarah Walker
Poster design by Daniel Lammin