Play examines Shepard's death
The murder of 21-year-old
Matthew Shepard in 1998
and its aftermath are topics
of The Laramie Project’
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter
Actors Cabaret of Eugene will present
"The Laramie Project," a play portray
ing the aftermath of the murder of an
openly gay man, Friday and Saturday at
Lane Community College Theater.
The cast of 50 will represent the town
of Laramie, Wyo., and depict in mono
logue its reaction to the 1998 murder
of 21 -year-old Matthew Shepard. Shep
ard was violently beaten, tied to a fence
and left to die because he was gay.
Moises Kaufman and members of
the TeTectonic Theater Project origi
nally wrote the script for eight actors
who take on several different per
sonas, but director Joe Zingo said an
unusually large cast gave more Eugene
thespians a chance to perform. Cast
member Carol Home said that be
cause each actor focuses on one part,
they can build stronger characters.
"Everyone sinks their teeth into one
color of the tapestry," Home said.
“The Laramie Project" resulted from
more than 200 interviews that Kauf
man and TeTectonic Theater members
conducted with the town of Laramie
after Shepard, as Zingo puts it, was
"crucified on a fence." The play begins
with solo monologues and gradually
adds more group scenes, but actors
never interact with each other.
Performers will give different per
spectives of those who were involved
with or affected by the crime. This in
cludes the investigators, townspeople,
die two young men accused of the
murder and their girlfriends, and
Shepard's teachers and parents.
Home portrays lesbian University
of Wyoming Professor Catherine Con
nelly, who shares her feelings about
the "homophobic" town of Laramie,
her isolation as the only "out" homo
sexual on the university staff, and her
fears following the crime. Home said
Shepard's murder gave Connelly a
frightening reality check.
"She realizes that she's living in the
world,* Home said.
Powerful scenes include mono
logues from the man who found
Shepard's body and an uninvited
priest at Shepard's funeral who claims
that the victim has gone to hell, Home
said, adding the show cleverly stages
scenes without actor-to-actor interac
tion. For example, during a scene de
picting the trial, a pool of light shines
on Home, who introduces the judge's
statements. The light illuminates the
judge as he reads and returns to Home
for her reaction. She never makes eye
contact with the judge.
Cast member Mark VanBeever, who
introduces and ties together scenes as
the narrator, said "The Laramie Pro
ject" will be performed without a set
in order to direct focus toward the sto
ry. Actors provide their own costumes
to add a personal touch.
VanBeever said he felt the show
sends a positive, hopeful message.
"It shows that so much good can
come out of so much evil," he said.
"There is so much wonderful healing
that came out of what happened.
Right now, we can respect and tolerate
Courtesy
Director Joe Zingo (left foreground) talks to cast members of “The Laramie Project.”
homosexuals, but acceptance is the
next step. Hopefully, people can begin
to accept them after seeing the show."
Lane Community College Theater
is located at 4000 E. 30th Ave. Tickets
are available at the theater's box of
fice, located at 996 Willamette St„ on
line at http://www.aaorscabaret.org,
or by calling 683-4368. Ticket prices
are $12 for general admission and
$10 for students and seniors. The
show starts at 8 p.m. and runs two
nights.
Contact the Pulse reporter at
natashachilingerian@dailyemerald.com.
Duo continues family tradition of South Indian music
A mother-daughter duo
will play South Indian tunes
for the second chapter
of the World Music Series
By Natasha Chilingerian
Pulse Reporter
An internationally acclaimed moth
er-daughter duo will present an evening
of South Indian music Friday at Beall
Hall as the second installment of the
School of Music's World Music Series.
Rajeswari Padmanabhan and her
daughter Sreevidhya Chandramouli
represent the ninth and tenth genera
tions of professional vina (a large,
plucked string instrument) players in
their family. They will perform with
mridangam (a double-sided drum)
player Karthik Gopalaratnam.
Assistant music Professor Mark
Levy said a show featuring two female
Indian musicians is unusual.
"It is interesting that they are
women," he said. "They are two
prominent musicians in a very male
dominated music scene."
Levy said he chose to spotlight India
for the second time this year because
he is currently teaching an Indian
music course, and Padmanabhan and
Chandramouli both happened to be
in town. This fall's World Music Series
event featured North Indian music.
Ihe performers' family tradition be
gan in the 1700s in Southern India with
the first seven generations of players be
ing male, and the remaining generations
following a female lineage. The family's
personal vina style is called the Karaikudi
Vina Tradition, which falls into the cate
gory Tanjore, one of the four distinct
styles of vina practice. Padmanabhan
provided most of her daughter's instruc
tion, which was based mostly on oral
and aural learning techniques instead of
musical composition on paper. Chan
dramouli said South Indian music inte
grates several aspects of Indian culture
that steps outside of entertainment.
"The languages, philosophy,
mythology, religious and secular ideas
of South India are woven into the mu
sic," she said. "With this kind of
arrangement, there is always room to
grow and learn the culture in depth."
Both North and South Indian mu
sic employs the same "raga" (melody)
and "tala" (rhythm) structures. Levy
said North Indian music developed
under Persian influences and
therefore sounds more folksy and is
ornamented with small, grace notes.
University folklore graduate David
Kosmatka, who wrote his master's the
sis about the mother-daughter team,
Turn to DUO, page 10
SUNDBERG
continued from page 8
Y dwarfs the country, making up 72
million people born between 1977
and 1994.
OK. I will continue.
In a group or a party, I have never
heard anyone who belongs to these cat
egorized lives ever mention Generation
X or Y as a description. We are not sub
scribers. It is the entities, businesses, cor
porations and media that use these ti
tles. They sit at tables, passing our
"name" around, sniffing it, tugging at it
looking for clues. Wondering how they
can put it to use. This empty phrase
All the while we shrink back, deep
er into ourselves, so that they cannot
reach us. Growing more complex
through resistance to the pesticide
like mannerisms of their attack. We
are immune. We are ironic. We are
lazy. We are genius.
We are a sleeping dragon and we
are next in line.
We are not a brand extension.
We live between the borders, in cracks
— shadows perhaps — clinging to both
sides of how we've been defined. Mov
ing in any direction poses a threat set
ting off an alarm that announces our
presence to the marketers, to the politi
cians, to the media. We are now a target.
A board for darts. Definition darts. For
people with beady eyes and weak hearts
to take their turn at the board: "Got the
bull's-eye! I'm gonna call 'em Weekend
Warriors! Sell 'em some hiking boots,
catered to their sense of style!"
So we remain in between things,
away from the flying darts of definition,
dinging to nothing rather than some
thing. Because it seems by making any
decision we are almost immediately
marginalized by that dedsion, then de
fined and sold to the highest bidder.
Our favorite pastime turned into a
perfume. Our favorite song is blaring
from a car ad. Our slang is selling
beer. Our poetry was mutated into a
slogan. Our dreams became a Web
site. Our friends, they're statues look
ing into the distance with neat pants
on. Our jokes turned into a sitcom.
Our passion dammed into a pool.
Now we remain silent, slowly wait
ing for the opportunity to do some
thing worthwhile. Something that
won't be taken and sold to the mass
es. Turned into another diche like the
rest of everything that meant anything
to us at some point.
And all the while those in charge
are demanding our support, our con
stant approval of what they have told
us, sold us, passed off as necessity and
treating the sacred as a pie chart to be
divided amongst the shareholders.
We don't protest, we don't riot, we
don't make a fuss. We calmly accept
this temporary mold and wait for the
right time to stretch out and soar,
without the fear of marginalization,
stereotyping or being capitalized on.
It's not that we don't care what is go
ing on. It's that there's not much any
of us can really do about it anyway.
The strongest thing we can say is noth
ing. Our power lies in our secrets.
In the meantime, we play games,
disobey and frolic in what we know is
worn out and tired because soon
enough we will have our say. We will
speak in volumes, in poetry, in code,
in tongues, separate from those that
turned us cold and rigid.
There's hope but no desire to act
just yet, as we edge our way into the
future, complete with the debts, mis
takes and missed attempts of the gen
eration that made us this way.
We inherit the broom of some bril
liant party that just missed us, and
we're standing around waiting to
clean up the mess. Suhweet.
Maybe by the time Generation Z
comes around, things will be differ
ent, maybe better for them. If nothing
else, maybe they could at least pick
their own names.
Contact the Pulse columnist
at carisundberg@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
)
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1 UO School of Music World Music Series presents
South India
Rajeswari Padmanabhan & Sreevidhya Chandramouli, vina
Karthik Gopalaratnam, mridangam
Friday, Feb. 27
8 p.m., BEALL HALL
UO School of Music
$10 General Admission,
$8 students & seniors, available
only at the door.
Free lecture-demo
o
at 2:00 p.m., EMU
International Lounge
UNIVERSITY
OF OREGON