Verbatim theatre, also known as documentary theatre, gives power to marginalized groups and communities by bringing their stories to the stage, allowing them to share their experiences and make them visible on both local and global scales. This form of theatre delves into multiple perspectives and uncovers various truths by scripting real interviews with individuals involved in a particular story or incident.
Verbatim theatre utilizes multiple perspectives to present different people’s viewpoints. An example of this can be seen in the play, The Laramie Project, which incorporates numerous interviews conducted in the town of Laramie. These interviews involve individuals who have some connection to the murder of Mathew Sheppard. The chosen interviewees include a baptist minister who holds anti-homosexual beliefs and believes that Sheppard brought the violence upon himself. On the other hand, Mathew’s friends offer a contrasting perspective. They consider it a hate crime aimed at Sheppard due to his sexual orientation and fully support him. As a result, the play offers a broad range of perspectives and a diverse set of truths.
The Laramie project demonstrates verbatim theatre by skillfully depicting the perspectives and storytelling of its characters. Numerous characters provide their testimonies about the murder, each offering a distinct viewpoint. While some view it as a homophobic attack, others see it as a hate crime. Despite these differing opinions, all the narratives converge on one result, yet each character presents their own understanding of events. The story unfolds in chronological order, encompassing the events leading to the crime, the crime itself, and the town’s reaction.
The Verbatim theatre genre allows audiences to intellectually and emotionally engage with the content of a play. The Laramie project effectively achieves this by portraying emotional stories throughout the play. Each character offers a distinctive viewpoint on Mathew, with some showing sympathy towards the violence he endured, while others align with the prosecutors and hold biases against homosexuals. Nevertheless, all audience members experience some type of emotional connection or remorse towards the play.
During our class, we were divided into groups and given the task of reenacting a key scene from the Laramie project using our understanding of Verbatim theatre. In our group, we focused on the various perspectives of the murder of Mathew Sheppard in the town of Laramie. Each member took on different roles in the play, delivering distinct quotes. Our intention was to portray the Laramie project and present the audience with multiple perspectives through these characters. We incorporated techniques such as on-stage scripts, layered storytelling, and limited stage action. To captivate the audience’s attention, we employed emotional storytelling methods, such as retelling and layering quotes from Reggie Flutty, Aaron Kreifels, and Dr Cantway as they discussed Mathew’s condition after the attack. Overall, my group and I believe that our play successfully exemplified Verbatim theatre.
The other groups in my class shared similarities with our group in terms of the quotes and stories used. However, there were significant differences in the techniques employed in their plays. For instance, one group began their play with an introduction explaining the subject matter and incorporating real life interviews, which I found to be an effective technique. In addition, the other groups utilized various techniques such as changing lighting for each character, using candles to symbolize the town of Laramie, repeating lines, and having scripts on stage.
Verbatim theatre is a form of drama that examines various viewpoints and multiple truths. The plays convey the intricate layers of characters’ realities through storytelling and language. This has been demonstrated in my analysis of Verbatim theatre and my personal endeavor to write a Verbatim play using verbatim techniques. Additionally, it has been evident in my exploration of Verbatim theatre through reading and viewing the film adaptation of The Laramie Project.
