The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later

The year was 2003 and I was halfway through my first year at Lakewood High School. The Barnstormers Drama Club announced that its winter drama would be The Laramie Project- a play about the community of Laramie, Wyoming where a young gay man, Matthew Shepherd was murdered in a brutal hate crime. Bookish and curious at age 14, I plunged into the script and there was no return. Questions were popping up left and right- how does a community foster that kind of hate? Could that happen here in Lakewood? I joined the cast (with a whopping 8 lines!) but my high school experience was changed. There was no black and white. And I was no kid.

This year, The Barnstormers presented The Laramie Project: 10 years later- a piece created by the same group- Moisés Kaufman and The Tectonic Theatre Project. The show was compiled from interviews, just as the original did, to explore the community’s response to the murder 10 years later, and how the town became defined by the incident. In hearing this, I became that 14-year-old questioning again- has Lakewood changed in 10 years? Since changes in laws with gay marriage and other legislation, would the Lakewood High School students doing this play today think of “10 years ago” as some less progressive, ancient time?

In asking the current Lakewood High School students questions about their experiences in the cast and their opinions about the show, I found out that so many of them had done thorough research into the town of Laramie and the real people who are the play’s characters. They gave so many thoughtful responses about the ideas of nurture vs. nature, how a community defines itself and what a “progressive” community like Lakewood can take away from a story like Matthew Shepherd’s. And just like in the Laramie Project script, there are so many different perspectives. Each student had a unique angle on each question- and the truth comes from seeing each one.

This is a similar reason LHS drama director Dave Gannon (or Mr. G as we’d often call him) asked cast members of the 2003 Laramie Project to share our memories of how the show affected us and how we hoped the show affected our community. With our responses, Dave and students from the drama club created a video montage of all of our stories that played just before the performance. There’s something about going back to an old place that’s like seeing an old friend. Even almost 10 years later, the LHS tryout theatre and I could pick up right where we left off.

And yes, the tryout theatre seats are still incredibly uncomfortable. And no, as an adult I don’t need to call Dave Gannon “Mr. G” any more. But yes. As the Lakewood High School cast showed me, both a community and a true story and can make change. As an alum said in her interview, “If you reach just one person, it’s worth it.”