‘The Laramie Project’ production details harrowing story of murdered student
In the late 1990s, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project of New York, which he founded, went to Laramie, Wyoming, to uncover the truth about the murder of college student Matthew Shepard.
After conducting 200 interviews with town residents, they wrote “The Laramie Project,” which premiered in 2000.
Since then it’s been one of the most frequently performed plays, according to Brian Fruits, assistant professor of theatre at Joliet Junior College. He’s directing “The Laramie Project,” which opens Nov. 12 on the main campus.
The play will be presented in person and on Zoom. Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-14, and 2 p.m. Nov. 12 and 13 in person; and at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15 and 16 on Zoom. Registration is required. The 85-minute play is being filmed live to be shown on Zoom.
“This is an important play to do now,” Fruits said.
“I told the cast and crew the other day that there are a lot of young people today that don’t know much about the Matthew Shepard story. Now there’s a new interest in it again, I think, because of the cultural and political climate we have today. … This play is all about tolerance, acceptance, community.”
The play focuses on Shepard, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming, who was kidnapped, beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in the middle of a prairie in 1998.
“The play has a film documentary style quality to it,” Fruits said.
Not only are JJC students involved in acting and stage production, but so, too, are faculty members who have cameo roles woven into the production via video and projection.
“I asked the JJC administrative leaders to perform and read a little bit from the play. They all stepped up — the president, vice president, deans, the athletic director,” Fruits said. Some who auditioned told him they knew the story and felt compelled to be part of the production.
The play features 16 main characters on stage who play different roles throughout. It begins just after Shepard’s murder when the theatre company went to Wyoming to do research.
“The play then weaves you through all the different personalities and sides,” Fruits said. “It takes you through the court trial and then the aftermath.”
Actors will portray what Fruits called “some really great people” and “some not-so-great people. That is a very interesting challenge to the cast. We are using our own voices, focusing on the words and trying not to paint caricatures,” he said.
Fruits said some comic relief is contained in the play to lend a sense of reality of the people involved.
“You’ve got characters down the street who are best friends, gossiping about the town, having these great side banter conversations,” he said.
“But at its core, it’s a tragedy, and the cast and the crew are handling it with the utmost respect.”
One of his favorite scenes involves the Rev. Roger Schmit, a Catholic priest from Laramie, who told the playwrights how important it was to tell the story.
While rehearsing the play, Fruits and his cast reached out to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, founded in 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew.
“They are advocates in terms of social justice, in particular trying to continue to make life easier for people who are LGBTQ,” Fruits said.
The executive vice president spoke to the cast recently via speaker phone. “That was really important for our cast,” Fruits said.
“He talked about how sweet Matt was and that there are so many people who have lost their lives to hate crimes. He told us, ‘Matt would be right beside me, fighting for equality.’ It was actually rather emotional and eye-opening actually. It rams home the idea that it’s not all about us.”
The play is the first live show the theatre department has had in almost two years. During that time, the theater was revamped with new carpeting and curtains, Fruits said.
“It’s quite a lovely thing to see all these artists coming together and trying to create something and tell a story that matters,” he said. “It’s hard mentally. I admire them.”
To see the play in person, an app from the college needs to be downloaded and then a vaccine card or recent negative COVID-19 test uploaded and shown at the door.