Bringing “The Laramie Project” to Coastal Carolina University

By Stephen Hudson-Mairet

The Laramie Project at Coastal Carolina University. Photo: courtesy Stephen Hudson-Mairet.

I have just completed a one-week residency at Coastal Carolina University, where I created scenic designs for “The Laramie Project.”  It has been an interesting process to design a show a little over a year after we produced the same show on Marquette’s campus. For those of you who saw the Marquette version, I thought I would share a bit about the process on this production.

The Coastal design was greatly influenced by two elements. The first was the space itself. The Wheelwright auditorium on the Coastal Carolina campus is vast—a large proscenium that is fairly deep. When I visited in October, I was struck by the openness—a quality I remember from my days in the great plains of Kansas. This is big sky country I wanted to represent, and this space would allow for that. At the same time,  I wanted to maintain the opportunity for intimacy between the audience and the performers, as the play consists of a series of monologues. I ended up with a large open rake that could be filled with furniture and performers that was backed by a large projection screen. The play is book-ended by a large projection of the sky in the day time at the beginning, and the night-time starry sky at the end.

My second influence was the play itself. On re-reading “The Laramie Project” this fall, I was struck by how this is really a play about a community, and the impact this event had on that community. It is centered around the heinous crime committed on Matthew Shepard, but the play illustrates the impact, reaction and tenor of the community in many ways.  I sought to represent the community in abstract through the scenic design. I did this by dividing the three acts into scenic movements—the first act has large steel frames that fly just in front of the projection screen— these frames fly in and out and represent the multitude of voices and personal lenses that the story is told through.  The second act brings in a barrage of video panels that attack the audience with news media, much like the town of Laramie experienced.  The fact that CCU had a large supply of surplus flat panel video screens was a big plus. The third act clears the visual field to bring us toward resolution.

I am proud to have been involved in this important production twice in the past year—once as the department chair and main cheerleader, and as the scenic designer of this latest project.  “The Laramie Project” is a show that has the capability to make great change in the world. Had Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project not undertaken this venture, the story of Matthew Shepard may have gone the way of many a media story—hot today, gone tomorrow. The fact that audiences continue to hear of Matthew’s story, and hopefully commit to make a change in their world accordingly, is heartening. It is one of the reasons we have a Theatre and Social Justice commitment at Marquette—to work with our audiences to use theatre to focus on issues of injustice in the world in order to actively make our communities better.

Stephen Hudson-Mairet is an artistic assistant professor, artistic director and chair of Performing and Media Arts at Marquette University. The Laramie Project opens on Thursday in the Wheelwright auditorium on the Coastal Carolina University campus in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Curtains Up!

By Carole Burns

Image from Marquette University's production of "Defying Gravity." Photo: Marquette University IMC.

It amazes me that some people will sit in line over night, in a driving rain, to see the latest movie. But ask the same people to see a live play, and they often times will think up a million reasons to not go.

Let’s look at the difference. A movie can be seen for months—even years— after its initial release. The movie will always be the same experience, with the same actors, sets and costumes.

A live play might be around for only a few weeks. Unlike movies, many different things can happen at a live show. While the actors will most of the time complete the entire run, sometimes the understudy will take a major role. The lines can vary depending on the energy in the audience that night. And once it is over, you will never have the opportunity to experience it the exact same way ever again.

A movie will cost you about $7 for a matinee, $9 for an evening show. A live play generally runs around $12, but the cost evens out when you get to refreshments. Popcorn and soda at a movie will easily remove that $10 bill from your wallet, while some live shows might have soda and candy for a mere $1 each.

Often times the live show will even allow you a break during the action in the form of intermission, making refills of your favorite snack, as well as a bit of conversation to discuss plot and story line.

All of this works together to make live performance an enjoyable experience, and a great way to spend an evening or Sunday afternoon.

A great example of this was the recent production of “Defying Gravity” that I saw at the Helfaer Theatre, which was excellent. It was apparent that the cast and crew worked had worked long and hard to assure the audience had a great experience.

The afternoon that I saw the play was sunny, but I didn’t see too many people outside. This made me wonder just what could have kept more people from being in the audience. I’m sure that it wasn’t due to the programs on television (I checked, and nothing good was on that day). Maybe it was the latest video game keeping them inside their homes and out of the auditorium seats, or perhaps the students were studying for mid terms.

The only thing that really explains it is that people have forgotten the value of live theater. The joy of seeing the action play out right in front of ones eyes. No computer graphics or special effects, no green screens, no digital animation—just a good story and strong acting.

For a long time, live theater had been the entertainment of choice. But these days we can choose to sit on our couch and let the world come to us. We can have food delivered and never even have to change out of our pajamas if we prefer. It may be convenient, but in doing so, we miss the chance to broaden our understanding of the world in which live.

These are things that a lot of us never consider. It has been a long time since live theater received the attention that it deserves, so let’s start a new trend. The final show of the Marquette Performing Arts Mainstage season is “The Comedy of Errors” by William Shakespeare. It starts this April, and I recommend that you check it out. You can sit back and relax, turn off your phone, and instead of multitasking, focus on one thing for a while. It will be the best gift you can give yourself, and I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Carole J. Burns is the Director of the Wakerly Technology Training Center at Marquette University. Follow her on Twitter @burnsy1217.

Defying Gravity: Behind the Scenes with Set Designer Carissa Saia

By Tim Braun

Set design for “Defying Gravity” by student Carissa Saia. Photo: Marquette University Theatre.

“Defying Gravity” features a set design by Theatre Arts Junior Carissa Saia. Carissa previously served on the set design team for “Holy Days” back in November, but this is her first solo design project on the Helfaer Mainstage.

Carissa’s concept statement: “‘Defying Gravity,’ by Jane Anderson is a play that looks back at the 1986 Challenger disaster. Parallels between art and science are shown through past and present characters to convey the meaning that people need to be able to communicate with each other more clearly.

Through working with the director and the other designers, I developed two main aspects to my design: the free spaces and the constricted spaces. The free forms of nebulas are created to show how life can be relaxing and free, and the constricted spaces are constructed by truss work that can be seen on the shuttle platform. The more extreme spaces are higher up and the less extreme spaces are closer to the ground.

These design choices contradict the teacher’s thoughts of going up into space. She thought that when she would get to space she would be free and that on earth she is constrained to material objects and life. In reality, on the ground is where her life was free and safe and once she started getting higher up and closer to take off, she became more and more unsafe and her life was no longer in her control.

I also played with different surfaces like the front of the stage is on a rake because that makes the ground feel unsteady which messes with gravity and the projection screen is an abstract shape that represents the shuttle itself. The colors on the stage were pulled from realistic images of space, nebulas, the Challenger, and the shuttle platform.”

“Defying Gravity” runs through February 26, 2012 at the Helfaer Theatre at Marquette University. For more information about this or other Mainstage Season performances, please visit our website.

Tim Braun is a student in the Theatre Arts department at Marquette University.