-If we could get the Streep we will use it!
-35 person official seating capacity
-but it has great possibilities for lights/projections/etc.
-Moments are titled à almost Brechtian
-have visible as we are going through the play?
-experimenting with projection, etc. à this won’t cost anything to us!
-use images, video, etc.?
-The themes seem to always come back to the nature of Laramie, the sky, the stars, the city from the fence, etc.
-projections, video would help set that
-Maybe have all of our sets/props/etc visible on stage the entire time à maybe have it disappear as the play moves along
-or it could be more reoccurring à selective theatricality à at moments it’s very spectacular and at moments it’s almost as a reading
-where are all of these people when these interviews are being conducted? à how theatrical are those settings?
-how much do we want to convey the specific environment of these people à what signals these characters to the audience?
-seating? à what do we want the stage to be set up with?
-theater in the round? à almost a conversation?
-making the choice that the audience sees everyone else is a definite choice
-also if we do it fully in the round we won’t really be able to use projection!
-the seating arrangement can change too!
-a chance to integrate actors into the audience as well
-can any of it be done actually IN the audience à what parts could be put on to the spectator?
-have the audience in the center and us around them à to make them feel like they are part of it
-lights on the audience à flashlights?
-how much do we want to make the audience feel as if they are part of this piece and not just watching this piece? à do we even want them to feel either one of these solely?
-should things be on stage the whole time? à “the space is a performance space”
-make it look/seem like a courtroom?
-should the setting/seating arrangement be the same for each act?
-thinking of all of these interviews as trial interviews? à the entire town of larmaie is on trial
-with the projections we can use it as a courtroom style projector à a slide projector
-christmas lights as stars for the final moment à theatrical
-even if you are passive, you are still part of this society à you can ignore it all you want, but it’s still happening around you
-idea behind “getting the audience” involved/making them feel “guilty”
-are we putting the town of Laramie on trial?
-the responsibility of putting this play on truthfully extends past the Tectonic Theater Project to US
-“do this right. Don’t make us all look bad.”
-is trial the wrong image? Does it have a negative connotation?
-is this play a search to redeem a town that has been villainized?
-or is it the Vassar community that is being put on trial for villainizing people like the people of Laramie à i.e., Gabrielle Giffords + Arizona/Palin
-people from Vassar automatically villainize people like the people from Laramie à do we want to make the Vassar community responsible and feel like they are part of the larger social community
-Emily’s friend who is studying at the University of Wyoming LOVES Laramie
-there are some rumours around Laramie that Matthew Shepard might have been a drug dealer and his death might have been related to it
-is this hiding his homosexuality or trying to not paint him as a martyr
-Is the play about Matthew or is it about the town and recovery?
-Emily presented some visual research of Laramie and Matthew and the killers (McKinney and Henderson)
-also found pictures of the angels (will be made available on VSPACE & on Shannon’s wall)
-found a picture of memorials to Matthew and found the memorials on the fence on which he was left
-found a picture of the railroad which is mentioned a lot in the play
-when you google image search Laramie, WY the third image that comes up is a picture of the founders of the town being hanged (1880s)
-they were very corrupt and drove people out of the town
-Jake presented images of projections on different surfaces
-how can we use projections in our piece?
-how can we incorporate projects into the action of the play?
-should we project the images of these actual people onto the walls during the play?
-Emily: this is important because these people are real and we should acknowledge it
-Moises said it’s important to recognize that we are actually just actors portraying them à we are looking out for the interest of saying what is “right” and representing these people as they actually were
-Shannon: projects will help remind audience that this was an actual event
-let’s not forget about our idea about using slides and slide projectors!
-Charlie presented visual imagery as well à horizon lines in Laramie à very lonely and barren
-telephone wires very prevalent in the images
-static à oppressive noises that media can make
-media and press are the villains in this play
-they stop the converation in Laramie
-should we use images that are unrelated to the event?
-how do we make the play universal?
-maybe project images of other victims of gay hate crimes?
-are they the stars shining down on Laramie?
-too heavy handed?
-Jake: I want people leaving this play remembering this event
-Akari: Agrees, but this play is very much in the aftermath of this event, and what does that means for us? I’m not sure we would be projecting onto the play by relating the even to our lives now.
-Emily: should we maybe project news stories of other events related to this one on the wall? à a passive way to universalize it
-Shannon: perhaps we can have a lot of articles/news reports playing before the show à the media blew Laramie out of proportion and stereotyped it à we are making Laramie real for the audience and bringing them in
-what can we do in the preshow/in the lobby to influence our audiences?
-we are clearly actors one step removed à will projecting the real-life images of the people we are portraying get in the way of the performances?
-is it necessary to even have the real-life images for every character?
-a lot of people are thinking no
-we need to be careful with how we use the projections à need the be well planned out and useful in some way à need to be absolutely critical to the piece and not just a distraction
-Henderson and McKinney were part of this town and part of this community à if we portray them any differently, we are getting in the way of their part in their community
-they are still a part of Laramie
-This play is not only about Laramie but also about these people (the Tectonic Theater Project) who went on a journey to discover things for themselves à this is OUR journey now
-this is OUR telling of the story à how do we make it that?
-maybe playing with film, etc.?
-Emily: surprised on her first reading of the story that the actors were characters in the play
-it would be cool to bring US as actors, as people, into this piece
-This play was greatly influenced by Brechtian philosophy
-let’s keep that in mind!
-How do we want the piece to progress?
-do we start as characters and end as actors?
-or vice versa?
-How do we let the audience fall into the trap of being seduced by the story or the theatricality?
-and then how do we break that to make the audience face the consequences?
-Brecht talks about alienation for a reason, not just for the sake of it à we must be careful with alienating the audience because this play is very much about these people and the audience needs to connect
-are we the characters or are we not?
-Anna Deveare Smith à important performer we should watch
-might be interesting to see how she deals with her creation of characters à she is so specific, but you are always aware that she is an actor playing these characters
-Shannon: a lot of the feeling of actors being removed from their characters is implicit in the text because we are playing a lot of different characters and will not be having a lot of set
-we don’t have to worry to much about commenting on it
-Elana: What gives us the right to do this play? à How do we justify us as actors picking up the play doing the Laramie project?
-Do we have to convey ourselves as students at Vassar putting on this play? à how do we justify us putting this on
-and we are conveying all this information to a specific audience
-what does that mean?
-Are we approaching it from the community at Vassar or as our generation? Or both?
-Is Vassar a place where the messages of this play are required?
-YES!
-we need to make sure that the people who attend our play do not end up falling into the exactly passive role that we want to challenge
-how do we accomplish that?
-who are we trying to reach? Vassar students or college students in general? Or even the greater Vassar community?
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