The exposed brick and bare-bones vibe of the Paramount Center’s Black Box Theatre, where “In the Footprint’’ is being staged through Sunday under the direction of Steve Cosson, fits with the production’s gritty sensibility. Indeed, The Civilians rehearsed “Footprint’’ in the Black Box for two weeks last fall, before it premiered in New York.
In a documentary theater approach reminiscent of the way the Tectonic Theater Project put together “The Laramie Project’’ and “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,’’ which were performed at the Paramount in tandem last year, “Footprint’’ was scripted by Cosson from interviews of more than 100 people involved in the Atlantic Yards controversy, along with statements made at public meetings.
It’s a byzantine controversy, and it’s not always easy to follow the 90-minute “Footprint,’’ given the complexity of the land-development process, the skirmishing between opposing groups, and the gallery of neighborhood residents, activists, politicians, and business owners who flash in and out of view.
But the show’s six-member cast — three men, three women — find ways to imprint a total of 16 characters with vivid individuality.
Especially strong performances are delivered by Colleen Werthmann as the dogged, implacable Patti Hagan, a neighborhood resident who spearheaded opposition to the project, and Safiya Fredericks as ACORN leader Bertha Lewis, who supported the project because of the benefits she envisioned flowing to the community.
The actors also provide voices for an array of other characters, such as developer Steve Ratner, architect Frank Gehry, hip-hop artist Jay-Z, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz, a supporter of the Atlantic Yards project, who is presented as a talking basketball with a yellow baseball cap on top.
