In the year since its founding, Laramie-based theatre company Relative Theatrics has made a name for itself with numerous Wyoming premieres. For its size, Laramie has plenty of theatre offerings, thanks in large part to the University of Wyoming. But Relative Theatrics founder and director Anne Mason says her company's growing success comes partly from its commitment to contemporary plays.
“We select these dynamic, thought-provoking but intimate plays that work on a smaller scale for an up-close audience,” she says. All of Relative Theatrics’ productions seat the audience around the actors on stage at the GryphonTheatre.
That’s where, in mid-2013, Relative Theatrics opened its first show. Mason remembers, “What I thought then is ‘I’m just gonna give this a go and see if there’s even a demand for it.’”
And there has been. Since then, the company has premiered four plays in Wyoming.
The latest, Nocturne, by playwright Adam Rapp, tells the story of a young man (played by Mark Mieden) who kills his sister in a car accident.
Mason says increasing audience numbers have led her—for the first time—to schedule a run of six performances, “and we’re also collaborating with [choreographer] Brianna Boyle and Dance Studio B, so we have more members of the community involved and more people who want to come see it, and it’s really starting to grow, which is very exciting.”
Nocturne features the company’s largest cast to date—five actors and dancers. The play runs December 4-6 and 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gryphon Theatre.