My connection with The Laramie Project dates back to shortly after its first production in the Bay Area. My high school alma mater was the first high school to produce this play a number of years after I graduated. I was working as a free lance lighting designer and my high school drama teacher asked me to return to do the lighting for her production.
Throughout the process of collaborating on the show, the importance of the material was brought into perspective when an incident similar to the one experienced by Matthew Shepard was repeated. However, this time the impact of the hate crime became too real as this time the violence was inflicted on a student of my old high school. Suddenly, the importance and visibility of this production was heightened.
As expected, there were people who travelled from Kansas to protest the show and the funeral of the student. I witnessed how much people who professed love were serving nothing but hate. I realized that this was a story that needed to be told.
Years later, I found myself a high school drama teacher and realized that we had not learned our lesson and the story needed to be shared with the community once again. While most of the feedback I received when we produced this show in 2011 was positive, there were people who complained about the appropriateness of this show. My response to these critics was simple. In a perfect world, a play like this would not even exist. However, we don't live in a perfect world and we need to share these stories in order to learn from them.
It has been nearly twenty-five years since the death of Matthew Shepard. While progress has been made, we have also seen hate on the increase. We still need to grow as a society. There is still progress that needs to be made. Because of this, we need to once again remind people that while there is hate, there is also compassion and we need to increase compassion in our society.
When we produced the show in 2011, I received an email from the author of The Laramie Project. In this note, Mr. Kaufman encouraged our efforts by stating that our students were part of a generation that will change the world and that they "are making a statement in favor of social justice, in favor of beauty and truth, in favor of the power and grandeur of the human spirit. Soon, everyone involved in the production will learn the great impact each one of them can have in the world."
I continue to hope that plays such as this one will only be a reminder of what has happened in the past and we can reflect upon the growth we have made as a society. Until then, it will serve as a reminder of the growth that lies ahead of us.
I would like to thank my former high school drama teacher, Barbara Williams, for all she has done to foster such an accepting community for all of her students and setting an example of what can be accomplished through theater. I am forever grateful for her continued mentorship.
