The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project. This play by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project is based on the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, that took place October 1998. The crime was motivated by hate. HATE.

I had the absolute privilege to be both part of the acting ensemble as well as the scenic designer in this recent U. Theatre production. I find it difficult to talk about this experience, sitting back trying to fill in the blanks in my mind about what the show meant to me, the magnitude of its ideas and meanings on my life and the knowledge that undoubtedly, we made people think. They might not necessarily think differently about the issues, but we made them think about them. We presented a story of hate, injustice, intolerance, but above all, hope. HOPE. We made them think about that. Hope, that the world might change some day, hope that the world is indeed changing for the better.

I would love to chat about how much I care for each and every member of the ensemble, but that's not why I'm here typing. Well, as a matter of fact, why the hell not? These people, some of whom I was already good friends with, have become family. When you spend any where from 2-4 hours a day with the same group of people for about a month and a half they begin to grow on you, and you on them. They become part of your lives, and I've previously mentioned in my essay, A Kind of Magic, this type of experience, this bonding, love and friendship, is all part of the magic of theatre. And in regards to that essay, I still asked Mr. Kelly if he would join me before every performance. And he was there. And he loved it.