In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the Director and cast of Kensington Arts Theatre’s The Laramie Project, meet Zoe Bulitt.
Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you perform before on local stages?
My name is Zoe Bulitt and recent performances I have been in are Jesus Christ Superstar at KATand Legally Blonde the Musical at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre.
Why did you want to be part of the cast of KAT’s The Laramie Project?
I had heard about it while I was doing Jesus Christ Superstar and I had actually been in The Laramie Project in college. It is one of my favorite shows and really left an impact on me so of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do it again.
Who do you play in the show and how do you relate to your character?
We each play a number of characters. One of my characters, Catherine Connolly who was one of the only out lesbian professors at the University, is one of my favorites. I also had the pleasure of playing her in college so I have done quite a bit of research on her. After her experiences in Laramie during this time, she decided to become a legislator for her area in an attempt to get more laws passed for LGBT. It is so inspiring that she decided to do something about what was going on in her town and continues to try to get legislation passed to this day.
How much did you know about Matthew Shepard and what took place on October 6, 1998, and what has been the most interesting thing you have learned about him and that event since you started working on this production?
When I originally did the show in college I knew nothing about it because I was only 5 years old when these events were taking place. Coming into this production and knowing a lot more than I did last time, and I decided to go more in depth. We talked a lot about Matthew’s upbringing overseas, what happened after the media circus ended in Laramie, and what the people of Laramie in the show are doing today.
What have been some of the challenges you have had during rehearsals and how did Director John Nunemaker help you to resolve them and to mold your performance.
There is really only so much information on all these characters. So really trying to portray them correctly and trying to figure out all the tiny details of the characters has been the most difficult. These aren’t characters; these are real people who lived through these events. John has been wonderful with drilling that into us and bringing out the true performance.
What has impresses you most about your fellow cast members?
So many of them have become so invested in this story just as I had when I first did the show. Everybody comes back to rehearsal saying “Oh I read this great article about Laramie.” Or “I watched this interview with this person in it.” They really want to do all the homework they can on these people.
What do you want audiences to take with them after seeing you perform in The Laramie Project?
That yes, this did happen back in 1998, but it is still extremely relevant to this day. Hate crimes are still a relevant topic in today’s world and there is still a lot of work to be done to make sure LBGT equality is achieved.
The Laramie Project plays from February 5-20, 2016 at Kensington Arts Theatre – performing at The Kensington Town Hall – 3710 Mitchell Street in Kensington, MD. For tickets, call the box office at (206) 888-6642, or purchase them online.
LINK:
Interviews With the Cast of Kensington Arts Theatre’s ‘The Laramie Project’: Part 1: Susan S. Porter.
