The Laramie Project Promises To Be A Powerful Performance

Rehearsal Photo by Steve Bailey

Last spring the Black Maskers, Richard Montgomery High School’s drama club, decided to present The Laramie Project. They choose the play because its message about tolerance is something everyone should hear, especially high school students.

Rehearsal Photo by Steve Bailey

The Laramie Project concerns the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, in Laramie, Wyoming. He was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia.

Here’s a description from the play’s promotional material:

A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman’s goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. The result was The Laramie Project, which was first performed in early 2000. In the play, the thoughts and opinions of Laramie residents from all points of the political spectrum are presented alongside re-enacted excerpts from the trials of the two men who attacked Matthew Shepard. Powerful and thought provoking, The Laramie Project is innovative, mournful, and politically charged, more of a sociological interrogation than a dramatic story. It is an evening of theatre that you will not soon forget.

Since the Black Maskers decided to perform the play, many stories have been in the news about young, gay adults committing suicide. These stories have spurred the club on even more. In light of everything that has happened, they want to voice a message of tolerance and respect to our community. The cast has been discussing how they love doing a play with a message which they “feel strongly about”. Emily Davis, the director, believes the performance will be both “powerful and timely”.

Performances are on Friday and Saturday evenings: November 5, 6, 12, and 13, 2010 at 7 PM in the Richard Montgomery Auditorium. Tickets are $13 for adults and $5 for students. Get tickets in advance here.

Warning: due to mature themes and language, parents are advised against bringing young children younger than 13 years to the show. The Laramie Project is comparable to a PG-13 movie.

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