One of the major design elements for our production of The Laramie Project was stadium seating, the audience sat on two sides of the playing space and, never fully in darkness, watched each other as they watched the show. I believe the concept came from an AIDS play that Jeff saw in the 1980’s in […]
Duke event: Oral History of Community Organizers
Since a number of you pursue coursework and projects focused on documentary, oral history, and/or social justice, I wanted to pass along this notice of public presentations happening this Friday @ Duke (notice courtesy of “CDS Porch” newsletter). Note the email RSVP if you want a free dinner in addition to the presentations! Community Organizers […]
New stories of Matthew
Thanks to Summer for finding this project on Kickstarter. Apparently, the filmmaker met Matthew when they were both in high school in Switzerland. It’s got about one more month to reach its goal for funding. Here’s an introductory clip from Kickstarter:
Moment: Aftermath
People keep asking me how I’m feeling now that Laramie is over. I was expecting to feel somewhat liberated, what with several hours of each day suddenly cleared and available. I had been excited to get back to “real life,” nebulously defined as a life in which I could sit down to eat dinner and […]
Amazing Laramie photostream
Checking out Jackrabbit’s newest post about her visit to Durham (see my post about her post) I ran across this astonishing Flickr photo stream (sample image below): There is not a lot of information given about the photographer on her Flickr profile. I believe she might be a first-year student at Illinois Wesleyan University who is […]
Laramie sparkles, doesn’t it?
My little vial of Laramie earth sits on a bookshelf in my bedroom near family photographs and the place where we recharge our cell and smartphones. I put it there to guarantee I would look at it morning and night. I’m still so touched by Jackrabbit’s gesture to give us all “pieces” of Laramie. Spencer […]
In documentary solidarity
Due to scheduling that was either serendipitous or counter-productive (depending on your perspective), the second week of our production of The Laramie Project ran concurrently with Durham’s acclaimed Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Since many folks in the cast have curricular and personal ties to Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies and other documentary mediums of […]
RIP Marge Murray. We love ya honey.
Upon a much belated visit to The Laramie Project Online Community I found this piece of sad news posted by company member Tiffany Redmon on April 19, 2011: Marjorie Murray – 9/2/1935- 3/12/2011 Marge Murray passed away around 11:30pm on Saturday, March 12th 2011 in Laramie, Wyoming. Marge was surrounded by children Reggie, Robin, Mike, […]
Laramie. Ten Years Later. An Epilogue. A Trailer.
For those of you curious about The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. An Epilogue there is a trailer from a performance of that show at Lincoln Center in New York City on October 14, 2010.
Our Laramie trailer
Thanks to the spectacular work of Gary Hawkins (Duke, CDS) and his crew, we have a lovely 4 minute “trailer” of our production of Laramie to share. The music you hear is the score, played live, composed and performed by Duke alum, Bart Matthews. http://vimeo.com/22653824
Owning a Story
Jeff tells us so often that we must own this story. I typically took this to mean that we should be confident in our knowledge of the play and our ability to perform it. It was encouragement. I took new meaning from it when I had the pleasure of meeting a former student of the […]
You gotta leave them with hope.
After yet another wonderful Friday night talk-back (and thanks for sticking with us after we held the opening curtain for 15 minutes which put our final curtain time at 10:30pm), I came home and checked Jackrabbit’s blog to see that she got home safely after her whirlwind trip to see us. She did. She also […]
UPDATED–Local reviewers weigh in
UPDATE April 14, 2011. Classical Voice of North Carolina just posted its online review this morning. Again, you can read it in its entirety here and I’ll quote a short section: Thirteen young performers essay some sixty roles, differentiated by the slightest of costume alterations — hats, scarves, jackets — and their collective brilliance as […]
“Why Do We Need Laramie?” Talk-Back
After the performance on Sunday, April 10, I moderated a panel discussion with Brian Ammons (Duke, Education), Sean Metzger (Duke, English, Theater Studies, AMES) and Jeff Storer (Duke, Theater Studies and Durham’s Manbites Dog Theater). Our discussion (which lasted 55 minutes! we had great questions and great sharing from those who stayed to talk and […]
More documentary theater if you’re around in May
I just found out that Burning Coal Theatre (Raleigh, NC) is producing the acclaimed but controversial documentary play, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, for one weekend only, May 19-22, as part of their “Wait until you see this” second-stage series. Click here to order tickets. Our guest last week, Professor Carol Martin, has an essay […]
Moment: The Close-up
By Julian Spector Moment: Medical Update Matthew Shepard was admitted in critical condition approximately nine-fifteen P.M., October seventh… I watch Cameron’s bespectacled face swim in a sea of darkness, glaring fluorescent lights still leaving his eyes in shadow. The image shines brightly in the dim theater, luring my eyes like one of those deep-sea fish. […]
Maude in her own words
Those of you who have read through this blog and/or stayed for one of our talkback sessions may recognize the name of Maude Mitchell. Maude visited our Laramie class back in February when Mabou Mines was in residence at Duke working on a new re-deconstruction of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. Maude was attached to […]
Distinguished Guest 1 — Professor Carol Martin
For our first week of performances, we enjoyed the company of our first distinguished scholar: Professor Carol Martin (NYU). I heard Professor Martin deliver the final keynote at the Acting with Facts: Performing the Real on Stage and Screen 1990-2010 at the University of Reading (UK) this past September. When I got back to the […]
The talents of our cast continue beyond Laramie
Laramie closes on Sunday and our last class meeting is next Wednesday April 20 BUT there is more theater that involves the creative endeavors of our cast. Specifically, Ben Bergmann’s (Doc, Stephen Belber, Matt Galloway) Senior distinction project, Dead White Men. Thursday, April 21st and Saturday, April 23rd at 8PM. Brody Theater, East Campus. Free […]
Wyoming 2, North Carolina ?
I got my Matthew Shepard Foundation newsletter today and here, in its entirety, is the story they offer about the defeat of two anti-LGBT bills in the Wyoming legislature. While there isn’t a lot being passed that’s actively positive for LGBT (like relationship recognition or employment protections) at least Wyoming has staved off overtly negative […]
Fall 2011 Enrollment
I can’t believe it’s that time, but pre-registration time for next fall has arrived. I’m sure many of you are meeting with advisors and bookbagging classes/enrolling right now. I just wanted to give a plug for my (Jules’) fall course THEATRST130 (cross listed in CULTANTH and LIT): Death Scenes–After 9/11. We’re going to start at […]
Library love for Laramie
Perhaps the second dearest place (after the theater space) to a dramaturg’s heart is the library. The archive is a close third. At Duke, the library and librarian resources are beyond compare. If you don’t already know our Theater Studies subject librarian, Sara Berghausen, make sure you contact/consult with her the next time you’ve got […]
Forgetting Laramie
I think it’s pretty safe to say none of us knew what were getting ourselves into when we first auditioned for the Laramie project. What I find sort of interesting is that, I don’t think I’ve felt as close to the Aaron Kreifels monologue since the first time I read it at the audition, until […]
From there to here
From the photo files of the wonderful Summer Puente, I crafted a little slideshow of the development of our DukeinLaramie world. Thanks to Alex I was able to leech a very early sound file of Bart’s fantastic music as accompaniment. It’s still got the markings of that early recording but I went ahead with it […]
Figuring out Doc and Galloway
I play three main characters in The Laramie Project: Stephen Belber, Doc O’Connor, and Matt Galloway. Differentiating between the three and discovering their separate and unique identities has been the major challenge of the show for me. At first I found the characters to be quite shallow, both in terms of the fact we know […]