The Laramie Project

     Yes, there were some problems on the way and the rehearsal process was quite long, but we ended up with a great performance which moved a lot of people. And that's the whole point of theatre - to move, to touch. So yeah, I'm just very happy with it.

Being LGBT in different countries

     I found many of the discussions we had in the beginning of the rehearsal process really interesting. My growing up has been very safe in a small, northern Swedish town and I've never really noticed any of the hate that exists towards LGBT people. No, I'm not saying that all Swedes are pro LGBT, but I would say that we have a more liberal view on the matter in general. At least the people that surrounded me. So I never really noticed any of the hate, even though I knew that it existed (especially in smaller villages, older generations and such). Therefore it was quite surprising to hear what was brought up in the discussions. I know that some of my LGBT friends back home found it difficult to come out and stuff like that, but there seems to be a much bigger difference between being gay in Sweden and being gay in Scotland than what I thought.

  Picture from my hometown - Falun, Sweden

     For me it's never really been an issue, because I've always thought that it's obvious that being LGBT is perfectly okay and normal and I've never met anyone who's been treated badly just because of their sexuality, so I guess I just kind of assumed that everyone thought the same. Well, I was obviously wrong. There is so much hatred. Far too much. The question now is what we do to erase that hatred. 

     For most people it's just a matter of not knowing enough. What they don't know or understand scare them. 

     And I think it's a really good point that not only LGBT people should fight for their rights, because this is about human rights, and human rights concern everybody.

Secretary Clinton's Historic Speech on LGBT Human Rights - "Gay rights are human rights"

Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.

Director's notes

     The only personal note I was given during the rehearsals was that I had to work on my diction for the anonymous friend of Aaron McKinney. I tried my best to do that and wasn’t given the note again, which I hope was because my accent was alright rather than the director not wanting to have to give me the same note again.

     The general notes mostly had to do with the energy and focus level which were pretty bad for a long time. We also got some notes on projection later on in the rehearsal process. I tried my best to heighten the energy level by standing up quickly on my cues, projecting and just by putting a lot of energy in my characters. I admit that it was difficult sometimes to remain 100% focused when sitting on the side for a long time, but I did the best I could. When we didn’t have to follow the action in the scripts my focus was much better, because then it was easier to really listen to what was going on on stage. I think most of the class agreed with me on that.

     I also refrained from eating dairy products and drinking fizzy drinks and alcohol and I continued with daily exercise. This is something that I always try to do, though.

Foreperson

It’s not specified in the script whether the foreperson is a man or a woman, but it helped me to imagine the foreperson as a man. 

He is very smart, confident, well spoken, likes the attention, honoured to read the verdict for such a noticed criminal.

He has the nicest flat in town with windows covering the whole walls. Everything in his house is stylish and clean. He likes golf, whiskey and early mornings with a cup of espresso. 

He also has a beautiful, successfull wife who he loves to pieces.

Physical portrayal

As I was imagining him as a man I automatically tried to move like a man. A very confident man telling a very serious verdict to a lot of people. He uses his hands quite a lot and with confidence.

Vocal portrayal

His voice is deeper than mine. It's calm, strong, confident - just like himself. Due to the nature of the trial it's very serious and factual. You can tell that he likes the attention though.

Fred Phelp's minion

(watch all the parts of The Most Hated Family in America)

 

Newsperson 1

The newsperson is:  

- Young

- Driven

- Ambitious

- Professional

- Smart

- She works for CNN

Physical portrayal

She is very professional, good posture, talks to the camera, she doesn't let any of her personality shine through. I found a spot between two chairs in the audience where I placed the "camera".

Vocal portrayal

She talks with quite a deep, confident, easy-to-listen-to, well articulated, tv-voice. She is completely professional and reads only what she has prepared to say. It's an important subject, so her voice is very serious. 

Subtext

She wants to report the news. To tell the world what's going on in Laramie.