Review: Theatre Department diminishes Laramie Project
- valleyjourno
- Nov 30, 2022
- 2 min read
An ambitious and thought-provoking contemporary classic comes to the Valley Theater Department.
By Asher Miles, Staff Writer

Audience members at “The Laramie Project,” directed by Matthew McCray, experienced a befuddlement of comedy within a tragedy. Bizarre transitions, incongruous acting choices and a lack of a theater untethered the audience from the documentary-theater masterpiece.
Through the thought-provoking three-act play enveloping the premeditated 1998 murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard and the mixed response of his conservative Wyoming community, an ambitious attempt was made by the 14-person ensemble. "The Laramie Project” details a complex compilation of interviews conducted by Moisés Kaufman that investigates American attitudes about violence towards the LGBTQIA+ community and the difference between tolerance and acceptance.
“We need to move away from tolerance and towards acceptance, because you don’t tolerate people, you accept them. You tolerate a bad hair day,” Matthew’s mother, Judy, famously said on her tours raising awareness of her son’s murder.

Due to construction delays, director McCray was forced to produce the show on the second floor of the 51-year-old building. While many can find faults in some of the green actors’ bold mistakes, shame on McCray for allowing the gaffes of the production to befuddle the weight of the histrionic masterpiece.
The immersive theatrical experience started in the courtyard and traveled through hallways and classrooms of the second floor. Actors missed their footing on stage boxes, patrons sat in the 54-degree makeshift theater and the playbill was only available digitally but electronic devices were banned during the play.
Valley’s underpowered, yet immersive, rendition of Kaufman’s documentary-play fell flat on a myriad of theatrical beats. Most notably, when the audience members were told details of Shepard’s torture, the Backstreet Boy’s 97’ hit “Everybody” blared on the speakers as actors danced and escorted the audience to the new location.
Bizarre and incongruous theater transitions aside, gut-wrenching performances from Sarah Grant, Sophie Haaland and Chevy Knight carried the three-hour show hosted in the transformed Campus Center.
Another outstanding moment took place in the northwest hallway as the audience members crowded together. A riveting scene of a hiker discovering Matthew’s beaten body culminated with impressive sound design, acting, and bold choices. The narration was palpable, tugging on all the heartstrings of the audience members.
Yet, much of the actor’s hard work to cultivate heartfelt emotions about a tragedy comes crashing down, during the intermission.
Certain actors were directed to fill the break with off-color ramble and out-of-character jokes that failed to reflect the somber tone of the piece, effectively removing the suspension of disbelief commonly found in the theater. Instead of the audience taking a moment to ruminate with the somber play, actors took the intermission and made caricatures of real people to try and make the audience laugh.
Better luck next time Valley Theatre Department.
If you ever get stuck with login or verification, reach out using the cricbet99 whatsapp number their customer service answered all my queries in minutes. For how to create a cricbet99 account, it took just a few minutes: name, email, phone, set password, verify, done. Once you’ve created the account, you can explore betting, casino games, bonuses—all of which look promising. Just be sure to double-check your info and pick a strong password.
To know more visit: https://cricbet99game.in/
AV在线看 AV在线看;
自拍流出 自拍流出;
国产视频 国产视频;
日本无码 日本无码;
动漫肉番 动漫肉番;
吃瓜专区 吃瓜专区;
SM调教 SM调教;
ASMR ASMR;
国产探花 国产探花;
强奸乱伦 强奸乱伦;
AV在线看 AV在线看;
自拍流出 自拍流出;
国产视频 国产视频;
日本无码 日本无码;
动漫肉番 动漫肉番;
吃瓜专区 吃瓜专区;
SM调教 SM调教;
ASMR ASMR;
国产探花 国产探花;
强奸乱伦 强奸乱伦;
代发外链 提权重点击找我;
谷歌蜘蛛池 谷歌蜘蛛池;
Fortune Tiger…
Fortune Tiger…
谷歌权重提升/ 谷歌权重提升;
谷歌seo 谷歌seo;
谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏
蜘蛛池 蜘蛛池
谷歌快排 谷歌快排
Google外链 Google外链
谷歌留痕 谷歌留痕
Gái Gọi…
Gái Gọi…
Dịch Vụ…
谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏
负面删除 负面删除
币圈推广 币圈推广
Google权重提升 Google权重提升
Google外链 Google外链
google留痕 google留痕
代发外链 提权重点击找我;
蜘蛛池 蜘蛛池;
谷歌马甲包/ 谷歌马甲包;
谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏;
谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏
蜘蛛池 蜘蛛池
谷歌快排 谷歌快排
Google外链 Google外链
谷歌留痕 谷歌留痕
Gái Gọi…
Gái Gọi…
Dịch Vụ…
谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏
负面删除 负面删除
币圈推广 币圈推广
Google权重提升 Google权重提升
Google外链 Google外链
google留痕 google留痕