The Laramie Project
Playwright: Moises Kaufman
Director: Julia Schmitt
Scenic Designer: Krista Franco
Lighting Designer: John Kiselica
Costume Designer: AJ Garcia
Photographer: And You Films
Production Date: November 2019
Venue: Second Stage Theatre,
Stetson University
It has been over 20 years since the brutal beating and sub-sequent death of Matthew Shepard. And while progress has been made in the area of LGBTQ+ rights, namely in the form of the marriage equality act, there are still far too many examples of un-equal treatment and acts of violence committed against individuals that are labeled as “different.” In so many ways, I wish that this play felt dated; that it felt as though it was from another era long since passed. But that really isn’t the case. The thoughts and fears expressed by these characters feel as familiar today as they did in 1998.
The Laramie Project offers a thorough snapshot of American culture, and in our production, we have tried to approach the telling of that story as if we were turning the pages of an American scrapbook. A memory of unconditional love is juxtaposed against a photograph of hateful violence. This collage of contrasts pushes us to examine the complexity of human emotion. What fuels hate? Where does compassion reside? What does it mean to truly forgive someone? How much courage is needed to stay true to yourself when threat-ening forces demand that you change? Laramie character Doc O’Connor wisely muses that the “the whole thing hangs around hope. H-O-P-E.” The Laramie Project grounds its message in hope; hope that we’ll keep talking, listening, protesting, changing. Hope that we’ll embrace complexity in order to keep living.