Ahead of The Laramie Project opening night, cast member Douglas Deans looks back on rehearsals and ahead to the run.
Its sunday the 11th, the day before our opening night. After a week of intense rehearsal, teching and finalising the cast and crew have been given a day off to rest. A calm before the storm one might say.
Photo by Pam Raith
I look back at the last few months, at all the hours of work we’ve all put in, at he research into the truth of the story undertaken with great fondness. I suppose its a bit of an affectation, but this play has moved me in a way that a play hasn’t done so before. Its been touched upon by the other cast members, but I suppose its quite simply because the whole emotional affair is a true story. The play tells of how one tragic event can impact so greatly upon so many peoples lives. Those who had nothing to do with it are dragged into the saga one way or another, and they have no choice but to play thier part. The play serves to give these people a voice, and prove that Laramie, Wyoming is not a place ‘defined by an accident’.
The play itself is constructed purely through dialogue with very few hints of stage direction. When I first read the script, I couldn’t help but feel that it was saying ‘here is the story, its up to you how you tell it’. As a company, it felt like we had a duty to tell this story in the most honest way we could. There was the moment where when we began looking further into the story, the news reports, the interviews, the testimonials, pictures of Laramie, pictures of the fence, that we realised our task.
I won’t say too much more, I will leave the rest for you to decide when you come and see it. For me, this play is a testimonial for a town which had so much to say, but no way of saying it. It truely sums up the phrase “there’s nought so queer as folk”.
The Laramie Project runs at Curve 12 – 17 March.
Tickets only £5 or play and a pint for £7
The Laramie Project is a collaborative partnership between Curve Theatre and De Montfort University, performed by DMU students and directed by Josh Seymour.
Curve Young Company 2011/12 