Projecting the Evil of 'Laramie'

Laramie, Wyoming was just like any small Western town: a tight-knit community, says its resident limo driver Doc O’Conner (Brian Cass) in “The Laramie Project,” where “everyone knows everybody else’s business.” But the town was shaken to its core when a homosexual student at the University of Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, was found severely beaten nearby. The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club production, which ran at the Agassiz Theatre this past weekend, details the reactions and thoughts of Laramie’s citizens in the aftermath of Shepard’s death. Interviews conducted by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project in Laramie—as well as statements made during the trials of the accused murderers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson—comprise the entirety of the script.

Each actor played multiple characters, which ranged from members of the Tectonic Theater Project to police officers to the murderers themselves. The actors were able to switch between characters with ease. Sam L. Linden ’10, in particular, strikingly portrayed two very different characters: Jedadiah Schultz, an eager university drama student who learns about his own prejudices against homosexuality and works to correct them, and Fred Phelps, a conservative minister from Kansas who preaches against homosexuality at Shepard’s funeral and his attackers’ trial. Linden successfully captured both Schultz’s desire to be tolerant and Phelps’ invocation of “God’s wrath” for homosexuals.

The production used the Agassiz Theatre to effectively emphasize different scenes in the play. The space in front of the stage was often used for character interactions, literally bringing the audience into the dialogue. Scenes took place in the balcony, depicting phone calls between members of the Tectonic Theater Project and their interview subjects. Shepard’s funeral was especially impressive; cast members walked into the aisles of the audience and prayed for Matthew before returning to the stage while singing “Amazing Grace.”

“The Laramie Project” as a play is most interested in exploring discrimination against homosexuals, not only in Laramie but throughout the entire country. Jacqui J. Rossi ’12 gave a stunning performance as Rulon Stacey, CEO of Poudre Valley Hospital, where Shepard was taken after being severely beaten. Stacey’s monologue announcing Shepard’s death brought herself and the audience to tears. After the monologue, Stacey talked about the letters she received after Shepard’s passing; some of them had condemned Matthew for his sexuality. “I didn’t understand the magnitude with which people hate,” she said. Understanding the power of hate and remedying its effects are central goals of “The Laramie Project.”

The characters lead the audience to a number of realizations about the world of Laramie. As a play, “The Laramie Project” strives to reveal the evil that resides in America; by owning up to prejudice against homosexuality as a society, it suggests, this evil can hopefully be corrected.

Most of the townspeople refuse to accept that Laramie is homophobic—it’s “just not that kind of place.” However, one student—a Muslim girl named Zubaida Ula (Leslie Rith-Najarian ’12)—disagrees. “We need to own this crime,” she said. “We are like this.” Although Ula was referring specifically to Laramie, her words can be applied more broadly to the current American social culture, and they inspire the audience to become aware of these prejudices in order to change them.