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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2015)
T 6 T H E C L A C K A M A S P R IN T | FEB. 18, 2015 |> V O L . - 4 8 'IS S U E 13 Play based on hate and crime gets set to premier by Cassidy Scott Director James Eikrem, in his eighth production ... I play a Baptist minister, I play a nightclub DJ, I at Clackamas Community College, is bringing the play a gay playwright,” Starr said with a laugh. “That’s story of Matthew Shepard to the Osterman theater just three of them - they’re so different from each stage in the winter term production, ‘The Laramie other even though they’re all from the same place. So Project.’ it’s a stretch, but it really makes you work” The Laramie Project, based on the 1998 m urder Despite these challenges, the cast and crew are of homosexual college student Matthew Shepard, ready to put on a great production. Even with the time crunch, Eikrem and Franz are brings a darker and more mature theme to the CCC feeling prepared and ready to go come opening n ight theater department. For the cast and crew who have been thinking “This one has a much more serious tone. Most of the plays up to this point have been either more on about the Laramie Project and the story of Shep the comic side or more dramas that have more come ard for months, there is excitement in the thought dic hum or elements to them,” Eikrem said. “So the of bringing the story to light and sharing the power Laramie Project is definitely a much more serious behind its messaging. “It’s a very powerful story, and it really shows the playf And with the play being cast in early January, the inhumane side of society, but it also shows the very combination of the time crunch and the nature of the humane side of society in different aspects,” Starr story has provided its own challenges for the cast and said. W hat makes this play special to Franz is how crew. “I have 11 actors, and there are probably about “soft” the play is, and how the different aspects of hu 70 characters all together. Some of them come back, man nature were exemplified in such a small town some of them are only on stage just one time, but like Laramie. each actor has a lot to do,” Eikrem explained. “It’s “I really enjoy all the different pieces and the as challenging, but it’s a very good challenge, and they’re pects and the different stories that come from this doing a very good job of it.” one town that’s so small you know,” Franz explained. Stage manager Ani Franz shared Eikrem’s testa Many people consider this play to be controversial, ment. but so far the CCC department has been met with “Everyone’s playing a lot of parts, there’s a lot going much support from both CCC students and the O r on, we’re in a lot of places,” Franz said. “I think one of egon City community. Other cities in the U.S. where the most challenging things is trying to keep track of this play has been shown have not been as lucky. where everyone is and who they are, and where their “We’re working closely with the Matthew Shep props are, and where they’re supposed to be entering ard Foundation, and they have said that in some ar and exiting.” eas they get people standing up and booing, calling Rico Starr, CCC student, who has spent time on names,” Jennifer Jett, Outreach Coordinator, said. both the sets of Portland-filmed shows Grimm and “Do I think were going to get that out of here? Prob Leverage, agreed with Eikrem and Franz. ably n o t.. .we’ve been met with a lot of support from “It’s a lot of work; it’s a ton of work. There’s a lot the community and we have a lot of organizations of lines, and everybody is playing multiple characters coming in who and want to be a part of it.” One of the reasons thé play may be considered Dates o f performances: controversial is in the way that the play is set up, with compilation of hundreds of real interviews. Umadqm dmragh Saturdays “Most of the dialogue in it is taken directly from Feb. 26 through Mat 8 transcripts of actually people that had something to -$10 for adults do either with Matthew or the case itse lf Starr said. -$8 for Seniors He went on to explain. “This is what these people -$5 online or ^pay what yon a n at the bar a ttic f said, it’s not like a writer sat down and wrote T m go for students. ing to do this and this and this,’ no, this is what these people said, and this is what we’re going to tell you -Tfclk back panels directly following the March 6 what these people said. Because this is real.” and 7 performances The realness o f it, according to Franz, is what Students rehearse together fo r their firs t perform ance on Feb. 26. makes it beautiful. “It really touches on that kind of hope, that re building, the hope that comes from a tragedy like this one,” Franz said. Eikrem agreed: “The hope comes out of keeping his memory alive, and what happened to him alive and putting that forward in such a way that people don’t want to see it happen again.” One of the main goals of the play is to make sure that what happened to Shepard never happens again, as well as bringing awareness to hate crimes in gen eral. “I thought it was an important play to raise aware ness around hate crimes. That is another reason why we selected it,” Eikrem said. “These hate crimes have not gone away, you hear about things all the time in the news. Hate crimes in general are something we need to keep in the imagination of the public, so that they can deal with them so they can think about how they think about them and then hopefully prevent them in the future.” Read more at theclackamasprint.com.
