Local Talent Shines in "Laramie"

A little gem of a play opened in Larkspur this month, and Tiburon’s Karen Leland has eleven parts in it. The play, “The Laramie Project,” examines the murder of a gay young man, Matthew Shepard, in a Wyoming town in 1998. All its dialogue is authentic.

It was assembled in real time by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project. The group collected interviews from townspeople, law enforcement, bartenders, a bicyclist, academics, clerics, gay residents of Laramie, and family members of both Shepard and his killers. But the Tectonic Theater interviewers have speaking parts too, describing their six trips to Wyoming and the progress of their search. As their collected information begin to build, writers and dramaturges within the group collaborate on creating this play.

Larkspur’s Theatre-at-Large production is a bare-bones presentation in which eight actors face the audience and tell their stories with the aid of minimal props. The story that binds them is this: in Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, is beaten, tied to a fence outside of town and left for dead. His brain injuries are so severe, he’s taken to a hospital in Colorado where there’s a neurological unit. He doesn’t die right away, but as this hate crime becomes known, the town’s rosy picture of itself begins to darken and fractures appear. As one resident says, Laramie, like Waco, will become synonymous with violence. The death of a young Highway Patrol officer is barely noticed. And of the three faiths established in town – Baptist, Unitarian and Catholic – only the Catholic priest offers a vigil. Eventually, however, justice will take its ponderous course, and recovery will begin, both for the town and for the researchers of Tectonic Theater.

“The Laramie Project” has a large cast: eight actors and eighty-three speaking parts. Every cast member in the current production has extensive theatrical experience, but that’s a lot to put together. How did director James Hurwitz manage it? “The director chose the cast,” says Karen Leland. They were people he’d worked with before, and they formed a natural ensemble.
Karen herself says she’s been acting all her life and majored in musical theater at college in Southern California. She found the play both “challenging and rewarding for the same reason. These are real words that people have spoken. They’re not from a playwright.” When not onstage or in rehearsal, Karen Leland is a best-selling author of business books. She also works as a marketing and social media consultant.

“The Laramie Project” will be presented only through next Saturday, June 18. Performances will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the American Legion Hall, 500 Magnolia Avenue, in downtown Larkspur. Tickets are $15 for students and seniors, $20 for general seating. For reservations or additional information, call 827-1373.