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The Laramie Project by La Jolla High School On October 7, 1998, University of Wyoming student Aaron Kreifels was riding his mountain bike along the desolate outskirts of Laramie when his tire struck a large rock and sent him tumbling over his handlebars. As he dusted himself off, he noticed what looked like a scarecrow tied to a fence along the road. As he walked nearer, he realized that the "scarecrow" had hair -- that the figure, beaten so badly that Aaron did not recognize him as his classmate Matthew Shepard, was in fact a person. Aaron ran to the nearest house and called the police. Reggie Fluty was the first officer on the scene. Matthew was lying unconscious, hands tied behind his back to the fence, covered entirely in blood from wounds to his head -- all except for two streaks running down his cheeks where tears had washed his face clean. Eighteen hours earlier, two young men had beaten and robbed Matthew Shepard, then tied him to that remote fence. While he pleaded for his life, the two men drove away, leaving him to die alone. He did die, but thanks to Aaron's unlikely discovery, he died surrounded by his family in a hospital on October 12. He had never regained consciousness. Despite the worst snowstorm in years, thousands turned out for his funeral. But not all were there to pay their respects. For Matthew Shepard had been openly gay, and his killers had made statements indicating that they had killed him in part because Matthew had "come on" to them. While his family and friends mourned their loss, one protestor shouted, "God hates fags." The events in Laramie galvanized the nation, leading to all sorts of calls for more tolerance and new laws to declare attacks based on one's sexual orientation to be covered under hate crime legislation. On the other side of the fence, some religious fundamentalists and other groups used the opportunity to sound off on their objection to the gay lifestyle. One Laramie Baptist minister said that, although what the killers did was clearly wrong, he really hoped that, before Matthew slipped into a coma, he thought long and hard about his homosexuality. Moises Kaufman led his Tectonic Theatre Company to Laramie shortly after Matthew's death in order to interview a cross section of Laramie residents and create a play based on those interviews. Over the next eighteen months they interviewed more than 200 residents. Using their own words, his Tectonic Theatre Company created The Laramie Project -- a documentary-like play that presents us with the points of view of dozens of Laramie residents concerning the murder of Matthew Shepard and its aftermath. This powerful production not only tells us the story of Matthew Shepard from his arrival in Laramie to the conviction of his killers. It is a brilliant study of love and hate, of tolerance and bigotry, of bravery and of fear, spoken far more eloquently through the people of Laramie than any playwright could divine with mere words of fiction. Last year the La Jolla Playhouse gave San Diego its first taste of this incredible piece of theatre, gaining rave reviews and sellout crowds. This year, La Jolla High School takes up the challenging show -- and in doing so creates easily one of the most impressive dramatic performances I've seen in a long while. Ann Boutelle's direction of her talented cast is remarkable -- both touching and funny, but not overplayed either way. The pace moves quickly, the sixteen actors switching deftly between their various roles as the interviewing theatre company and as the many people they interviewed. The highlights and notable performances are too many to mention here, but I'll touch on just a few. * Julian Diaz as Aaron kreifels, describing his surreal discovery of Matthew tied to the fence. * Kathryn Stutz as Officer Reggie Fluty, the first officer on the scene, telling how she tried her best to help the bloodied, comatose victim, and then how she was later told that Matthew was HIV positive, and that there was a very strong chance that she had been infected while she had administered to him. * Caroline Weiss as the hospital spokeswoman who announces Matthew's death, and then breaks down on national television as she pleads for the reporters and viewers to go home and hug their children. * Christine Garver as the first "out" lesbian instructor at the University of Wyoming, who suddenly feels very nervous for her safety for the first time. * Alex Lautanen as a more vocal lesbian who does her best to thwart the Christian fundamentalist protestors who seek to mar Matthew's funeral and the conviction of his killers, at one point gathering together a number of people to wear angel costumes with huge wings, with which they encircled the protestors and thereby closed them off from the others. * Jason Robertson who had three great roles, including Father Roger Schmit who was the first local minister to call on the others to denounce the crime and held a candlelight vigil for him (the other ministers wanted to wait and see how public reaction went -- Father Schmit thought that as leaders of the church, they should try to "lead" public reaction, not follow). Jason is also impressive as Matt Galloway, the bartender who saw the two killers talking with Matthew Shepard at the bar, and later felt guilty for not realizing something was wrong and stopping them from leaving together. * Ryan Ross, first as the highly amusing, philosophical, laidback limousine driver named Doc who knew Matt from driving him around Laramie, and later as Aaron McKinney -- convicted murderer of Matthew Shepard who now was in fear for his own life. * Which leads to the most riveting, chilling, and powerful scene in this play -- or probably any other for that matter. Katie Reynolds, as Matt's mother Judy Shepard, speaking to Aaron McKinney at his sentencing. His attorneys have asked the jury to spare Aaron's life, claiming that Matthew Shepard and his family did not believe in the death penalty. Judy testifies that this is a lie -- that their family, including Matt, believed in the death penalty under certain circumstances, and that there was no doubt the circumstances of this murder warranted death. But, after telling McKinney and the court how she and her family would miss Matthew's presence for the rest of their lives and how tragic it was that McKinney had stolen all of that away from Matthew and from them, and while Aaron McKinney kept his eyes cast down, embarrassed and frightened, Judy says that the hate has got to stop somewhere -- and that she would now show mercy for the man who showed her pleading son no mercy, leaving him there to die tied to a fence, spending his last unimaginable hours all alone in the cold, night sky of Laramie. Rob Hopper San Diego Playbill ~ Cast ~
Matt Ascuitto: Jon Peacock Jonas Slonaker Governor Jim Geringer Bill McKinney Ensemble Elise Benninghofen: Greg Pierotti Baptist Minister's Wife Jeffrey Lockwood Newsperson Zackie Salmon Sherry Johnson Foreperson Ensemble Julian Diaz: Narrator Aaron Kreifels Doug Laws Matt Mickelson Russell Henderson Ensemble Christine Garver: Narrator Catherine Connolly Dr. Cantway Shannon Bailiff Newsperson Ensemble Armin Houshmandi: Philip DuBois Phil Labrie Kerry Drake Ensemble Yonatan Landau: Sergeant Hing Narrator Harry Woods Cal Rerucha Ensemble Alex Lautanen: Alison Mears Romaine Patterson Judge Gil Engen Andrew Gomez Priest Ensemble Gabe Mares: Narrator Rob DeBree Murdoch Cooper Stephen Mead Johnson Doug Laws Newsperson Ensemble Katie Reynolds: Leigh Fondakowski Baptist Minister Shadow Newsperson Judy Shepard Ensemble Jason Robertson: Jedediah Schultz Father Roger Schmit Matt Galloway Ensemble Ashley Rollerson: Eileen Engen April Silva Zubaida Ula Mormon Home Teacher Ensemble Ryan Ross: Doc O'Connor Stephen Belber Conrad Miller Reverend Fred Phelps Aaron McKinney Ensemble Kathryn Stutz: Barbara Pitts Reporter Reggie Fluty Trish Steger Newsperson E-Mail Writer Ensemble Emily Sweet: Moises Kaufman Waitress Marge Murray Kristin Price Sherry Aanenson Newsperson Ensemble Suzy Wolds: Rebecca Hilliker Andy Paris Tiffany Edwards Jen Judge Ensemble Caroline Weiss: Amanda Gronich Anonymous Rulon Stacey Mrs. Thompson Ensemble Director: Ann Boutelle Stage Manager/Sound Designer: KC Martin Lighting Designer: Masha Tsimring |