MARK AUERBACH
STORRS, Conn. – The Connecticut Repertory Theatre on the UConn campus in Storrs, has produced some great theatre in the last few years. I enjoyed productions of The Music Man with Barrett Foa and Gypsy with Leslie Uggams there. They open their season with a riveting production of The Laramie Project.
Seventeen years ago this Columbus Day Weekend, Matthew Shepard, a young gay man in Laramie, Wyoming, was abducted, tortured, beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in a field outside the small Wyoming college town. As details about this brutal and horrific hate crime made world headlines, Moises Kaufman and members of The Tectonic Theatre Company went to Laramie to interview the townspeople – friends and acquaintances of Shepard and his family, and friends and acquaintances of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson (the killers), and others. What emerged as The Laramie Project in 2000 remains, 15 years later, a powerhouse of a play, one not only “ripped from today’s headlines” but one with an incredibly moving and provocative message.
Curtis Longfellow and the ensemble of The Laramie Project at Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nafe Katter Theatre in Storrs, CT. (Photo by Gerry Goodstein)
In the hands of director Vincent J. Cardinal, and a terrific acting ensemble of eleven, all of whom play multiple parts, The Connecticut Repertory Theatre production of The Laramie Project is intense theatre at is finest. Cardinal uses simple production techniques, well-designed sets and costumes by Tim Brown and Raven Ong, stunning lighting and projections by Margaret Peebles and Josh Winiarski, and weaves together an evening that unfolds thrillingly with balance.
The acting performances are all superb, and each member of the company should be commended for tackling a number of diverse characters effortlessly, often with the change of a scarf, the tilt of a hat, and other simple nuances. Brandy Burre from HBO’s The Wire and Shakespeare andCompany’s Josh Aaron McCabe head the cast, many of whom are grad and upper level undergrad theatre students at UConn. They all deserved the standing ovation received at Saturday’s performance. Among the stand-outs for me were: Chester Martin as murderer Aaron McKinney, Rev. Fred Phelps, and and a college president; Curtis Longfellow as a hospital administrator and a gay Laramie resident, Bryce Wood as the bartender and a preacher, and Meredith Saran as Romaine Patterson. Kudos to the entire cast.
It took until 2009 for hate crime legislation to be signed into law by President Obama. The Laramie Project, a brilliant and absorbing piece of theatre given this outstanding production by Connecticut Repertory Theatre shows the power of theatre to tell a story of our times. It’s one of the most intense, yet satisfying evenings of theatre I’ve experienced in a while.
Brandy Burre leads the ensemble of The Laramie Project at Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nafe Katter Theatre in Storrs, CT. (Photo by Gerry Goodstein)
The Connecticut Repertory Theatre presents The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and members of The Tectonic Theatre Project. Directed by Vincent J. Cardinal. Scenic design by Tim Brown. Costumes designed by Raven Ong. Lighting design by Margaret Peebles. Sound designed by Justin Graziani. Projections designed by Josh Winiarski. Cast: Arlene Bozich, Brandy Burre, Coleman Churchill, Natalia Cuevas, Zach Dictakis, Curtis Longfellow, Chester Martin, Josh Aaron McCabe, Susannah Resnikoff, Meredith Saran, Bryce Wood. Through October 18. Nafe Katter Theatre, University of Connecticut at Storrs, CT. 860-486-2113 or www.crt.uconn.edu.
