On October 6, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was kidnapped and brutally beaten near Laramie, Wyoming.
Six days later, Matthew was dead.
The attack by two men on this innocent, homosexual man caused an uproar across the nation about the occurrence of hate crimes towards minority populations such as gays, lesbians, and transgenders.
Five weeks later, in the wake of the tragedy, Moises Kaufman and his peers at the Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming to begin what would become a pivotal awareness project.
Over a year, the company interviewed more than 200 residents in the town and compiled the narratives into their breakthrough play: The Laramie Project.
The WVWC Department of Theatre and Dance is bringing this riveting production to life this fall.
The show will run from October 9th through October 11th at 8 p.m. in the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts.
Director Greg Mach believes the show will have a strong impact on the campus, especially in partnership with awareness efforts by the Gender Studies department, and due to its non-fiction subject matter.
“The style of this show [is] more natural and raw than some of the lighter fare we have offered,” said Mach. “This production entertains by raising questions that may lead different people to different messages…We are playing real people in a real community, not fictional characters.”
Laramie narrator, dramaturg, and projection designer Emily Jenkins feels the “true-story” element is what makes the play so challenging.
“The play is made up of real interviews with real people which makes it hard, in my opinion, to do each person justice. It’s hard to look at a piece of work and think of real people and not fictional characters,” said Jenkins.
She has conducted a great deal of research about the events leading to the play’s creation, as well as complied images to project on a screen onstage throughout the show.
Elizabeth Clever, fellow narrator and actress, said the show has required a great deal of preparation, including mental readiness to tackle tough topics.
“A lot of the topics of the show are very emotionally charged, and it is hard not to get emotional while some of the scenes are going on,” said Clever.
The show is best suited for mature audiences, as it chronicles the reactions and struggles of the townspeople of Laramie as they try to cope with tragedy, and begin to question their views about human rights and equality.
Stage Manager Fawn Reid says, in addition to the emotionally charged content, the show is tough to perform because of the logistics of a show with more than 50 characters but just a handful of actors.
Mach reiterated that, pointing out that the “artistic challenges of moving 12 people and 60-70 characters around onstage are daunting.”
The cast agrees that this is a must-see production for not only those on campus, but everyone in the surrounding community.
“We are looking forward to holding a mirror up to our own communities by examining the aftermath of this tragedy in a typical small town in America,” said Mach. “It is important for any community to be able to define itself and to celebrate its strengths and confront its demons. This show is not about the death of a gay man in Laramie, it is about a community that has to redefine itself in the wake of that tragedy.”
Clever describes the production as “a show about a community for the community,” adding that “these types of hate crimes are still happening today, and it’s important to bring attention to that instead of just sweeping them under the rug.”
Other cast members include Alliyah Corley, Marilyn Evans, Olivia Hancock, Jessica Tichenor, Chad Clem, Tyler Dos Santos, Bryce O’Loughlin, Christopher Estep, Rachel Channell, and Edwin Hollen.
The production runs October 9-11 at 8 p.m. in the PAC, as part of the campus-wide, week-long equality celebration. Check out the event page here for more information!