Laramie project

Hi everyone!
I have an audition coming up in my school for the Laramie Project, and I need to prepare a 1 mintute monologue. A few questions:

1) Any monologue suggestions (comic, dramatic, classic) I was thinking of doing the one from "The Seagull) with Nina.

2)What is the basic story of TLP? What kinds of characters etc.

3)Has anyone seen it? what are your basic impressions of it?

Thanks for your help!

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The Laramie Project is one of the most emotional moving plays I have ever seen
It is about the people of Laramie and how they are affected by the murder of Matthew Shepard
The script's dialogue is taken from actual interviews from the town's citizens
Best of luck

1) The Laramie Project's content is drawn almost entirely from interviews with real people. It is composed almost entirely of monologues. The play is presented pseudo-documentary-style, so IMHO the key to making it work is finding versatile actors who can give voice to the people of Laramie in the most natural, effortless manner possible. For the audition, I would work with something contemporary... Chekhov doesn't fit that bill. You might look at material from other plays that Moises Kaufman has had a hand in: "The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde" and "I Am My Own Wife" spring to mind (Kaufman didn't write the latter but he did act as advisor to the script development process and his influence is clearly visible)

2) The Laramie Project is about how the town of Laramie copes with the death of Matthew Shepard. The play is, as I said, based on real interviews with the town's real residents. If you're not familiar with Matthew's story, Google is your best friend in the world, after you start with the Matthew Shepherd Foundation web site at www.matthewshepard.org. IMHO, though, the play is MORE about how a small town copes with tragedy and less about a hate crime (I'm sure people will disagree with that, but I stand by it). There are some 60 (?) characters in the show, and most of the time it is done with a cast of about eight (again, I think this is because the focus is on the impact of the tragedy on the town, and not on the individuals there). Obviously, then, the actors need to be able to play numerous roles, each. This is not an easy play to do well... but it does get done a lot. Do the math on that one There is an HBO Film version of the play that you can rent from most decent video stores -- it's pretty good, and sticks pretty close to the script.

3) Done well, it's a powerful theatrical experience. Done badly, it's cheesy and plastic and rather painful to witness.

Best of luck. The play is a good one for schools to do. You stand to learn a great deal from the experience.

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Updated On: 5/23/05 at 07:04 PM

I think the show runs long.

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We were one of the first high schools in our area to do this show..and I was lucky enough to stage manage for it. Everynight I would see the emotional impact this show has on people, and there was never a dry eye by the end of it. Every director does it differently, but ours cast 8 people and each person played 6 to 8 characters. It's an amazing show when it's done well...unfortunately another local high school saw our production and tried to do it with a larger cast...and well it wasn't very good. As someone mentioned earlier, it's a difficult show to do well, but if it is...it's very powerful stuff. We as a cast and crew we're emotionally drained by the end of it's run. Best of luck, and enjoy yourself!

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I bought this script and hope to read it this summer.

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bwaytheatre11--make sure you've got tissues by your side.

green duck--ditto to everything you said and i love the icon!

i was in it too, so if you have any questions, pm me! i played romaine and she just kicks butt!!! break a leg at your audition!

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Hannah, you ARE going to read the script, right?

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Updated On: 5/24/05 at 10:46 AM