CONTENT WARNING: This script is about the events leading up to and following the murder of a young man named Matthew Shephard, in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998. The play also contains profanity and homophobic slurs. Viewer discretion is advised. This play is recommended for audience members no younger than twelve years old.
This play's script is compiled from hundreds of hours of recorded interviews with real people living through the events the play describes, in Laramie, Wyoming, in the years of 1998 and 1999. Audiences of today may find the language of many of these characters shocking.
DISCLAIMER: The language performed in the course of this play is NOT reflective of the attitudes of the actors, Hollywood High School, or the Los Angeles Unified School District.
None of the faculty or students working on this play find any pleasure in having to speak certain words or phrases in this script, yet we are compelled to do so in order to more accurately tell the story.
The language is being performed as it was originally recorded for multiple purposes:
1. To allow audiences of today to hear the authentic way in which the LGBTQ community was spoken of in the late 90's (and in many ways, still today).
2. To honor the work of the original authors of the play, who felt that including this language was necessary in order to communicate the story.
3. To accurately replicate the views of these characters in the time and place of the recording. If we were to alter or "clean up" this language, we would be erasing history purely because it makes us uncomfortable, and that would be irresponsible of us.
We humbly request that you allow yourself to be uncomfortable, to listen, to think, and to reflect on the content of the play. The issues of this play are astonishingly relevant to the issues we as Americans are facing today in the fight for equality for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, race, religious belief, gender, or gender identity.
Thank you for joining us.
