Difficult story gets strong delivery

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama Critic

•	Troubling drama What: "The Laramie Project" Where: Manoa Valley Theatre When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays through Aug. 3 Tickets: $25 general, $5 discount for seniors and military, $10 for 25 and younger Information: 988-6131

Written by Moises Kaufman, the play resulted from a project coordinated by New York's Tectonic Theater.

Members of the company made repeated visits to the Wyoming town over a period of 18 months to interview residents and witnesses to the 1998 beating and murder of a gay college student.

Matthew Shepard's lingering death generated media frenzy and became the celebrated center of controversy over homosexuality as the target of hate crimes.

The stated goal of the drama is to represent Laramie and its citizens as they cope with the killing and unprecedented media attention.

So while the actors illuminate the event from its discovery through the trial and sentencing, they don't create characters or a story in a traditional theater style.

By intermission, we come to realize that Matthew Shepard and his assailants are addressed only tangentially, and that the focus is on the townsfolk, who represent what is both base and noble in contemporary America.

In Brechtian fashion, we are constantly reminded that we are watching actors recreate interaction between members of a theater company and inhabitants of a relatively unsophisticated and isolated community.

Eight performers sit on wooden chairs on either side of a stylized, windswept prairie landscape and use minimal costume accessories to create 80 different characters. The story is built from short monologues.

What emerges is the sense of a cold and desolate community suddenly thrust onto the national stage. Some of the inhabitants distance themselves from the event; some reveal uncomplicated and deep-seated bigotry, and some display genuine, newly sensitized compassion.

This is difficult, demanding theater that requires the casual observer to focus and think. It nudges collective guilt, but does not swamp us in a sea of political correctness. It is an intervention — not a diversion.

The production is directed with tangible reticence and sensitivity by Dwight Martin and offers several fine moments.

Disparate characters emerge from Matthew Johnson, who convincingly portrays both defendants, an eager student and the university president. Jerry Tracy gets good mileage from his crusty characterization of a straight-talking limousine driver.

Melinda Maltby is effective as the police officer exposed to HIV-positive blood at the crime scene.

Jim Aina turns in several distinct characterizations, from sheriff to priest, and Derek Calibre delivers an excellent reading as Matthew Shepard's father addressing the court about the death penalty.

"The Laramie Project" has been produced more than 450 times in the last two years.

While it may not appeal to everyone, the MVT production strongly delivers its message.