Play review: CFCC’s ‘Laramie Project’ tugs heartstrings in its telling of tragic tale – StarNewsOnline.com
Cape Fear Community College’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts opened its production of “The Laramie Project” last week at the college’s outdoor amphitheater in downtown Wilmington.
A May 1 performance is sold out, but audiences can watch a free live stream starting 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 28.
“Laramie,” last produced in Wilmington in 2017 by Big Dawg Productions, was written by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project lead by Leigh Fondakowski.
CFCC theater program chair Jessica Gaffney directs this documentary play about the 1998 torture and murder in Laramie of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student. Kaufman, Fondakowski and company traveled to Laramie soon after the murder to interview the townspeople, some of whom were directly involved in the case. More than 200 interviews, as well as their own diary entries, were crafted into “The Laramie Project.”
Gaffney’s troupe of nine actors succeeds in its exploration of the story of Shepard: his life, death and the community surrounding him.
Each cast member deserves mention here — they invest themselves in no less than four and as many as eight different roles. The cast includes Alex Keffer, Badden Boctot, Dorey O’Connor, Emma Rosenstein, Mara Martin, Davis Cleveland, Jamie Lane, Troy Davis and Tyler Koenig.
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The emotional tug and roll of the text sends us from unexpected humor, as character after character talks of the town and Shepard, into the abyss as we are challenged to witness the senselessness of the crime again. Of particular note are the chameleon-like performances by Keffer, Lane and Cleveland that lead us through the fraught emotional landscape.
Benjamin Weinert-Lishner’s set is meant as much to solve the practical challenges of presenting the play in an open amphitheater as giving a sense of place. He cleverly uses dollhouse representations of buildings in the town of Laramie as props and costume stations and furniture arranged across the stage.
Hannah Schneider’s sound design is nearly flawless, and especially notable is her sensitivity to multiple voices speaking simultaneously, bringing out the essential lines at critical moments.
Of problems with the production, there is only one — lighting. At sundown, small battery-powered lamps are set off in front of each small structure, but the actors’ faces remain in shadow so that following who is speaking becomes a guessing game.
That “The Laramie Project,” this ground-breaking example of documentary or verbatim theater, remains relevant is as sobering as the events referenced by its characters — as are the homophobia, class conflict and religious intolerance kicked up by its storm.
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Want to go?
What: “The Laramie Project,” presented by CFCC theater department
When: Live-streamed performance 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 28; May 1 performance, rescheduled from a rained out date, is sold out
Where: CFCC Amphitheater, with masks and social distancing required
Tickets: Free with reservation; $5 suggested donation
Details: 910-362-7999 or www.WilsonCenterTickets.com