In October of 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was tortured and beaten in Laramie, Wyo., by two bar-hoppers offended by Shepherd’s homosexuality. Left to die tied to a fencepost (the first police officer on the scene thought he was a scarecrow), Shepherd’s brutal murder inspired national outrage, hate-crime legislation and a searing dramatization titled “The Laramie Project,” which will be performed by Malibu High School students this weekend.
The play, by award-winning Moisés Kaufman, drew upon hundreds of interviews with inhabitants of Laramie and published news reports to portray Shepherd’s
national dialogue about homomurder and its effect on the sexuality, diversity and tolerance.
Malibu High School Theatre Director Jodi Plaia was not afraid of the controversy that the play, 15 years after Shepherd’s death, continues to generate.
“I always want my students to get the most out of whatever play we decide to do and I was attracted to the intensity of this piece,” Plaia said. “You have to gauge the vibe of your students, and this year, I felt the level of maturity in this class was such that they could handle it.”
Intense was the apt description from day one of rehearsal. Plaia said she never told the students what play they would be doing until after the initial auditions, feeling that she wanted to create a true ensemble piece, without a hint of bias or an inherent hierarchy that comes from auditioning for a certain part.
“After the first auditions, we did improvisations,” Plaia said. “I told them that I needed them to bring as much honesty as possible to this piece, and then I told them what we were doing. I gave everyone the opportunity to opt out if they were uncomfortable with the subject. No one dropped out.”
“The Laramie Project” has 80 roles played, in Malibu High’s production, by 17 actors. Characters range from Shepherd’s parents, to the first responders, to members of the Westboro Baptist Church, who infamously picketed Shepherd’s funeral with signs bearing homophobic slogans. Plaia said rehearsals, begun the last week of August, were extremely emotional.
“A couple of kids spoke out to say that because of their religious beliefs, they didn’t know how they felt about homosexuality,” Plaia said. “At this age, some kids don’t even know if their best friend is gay. Their fallback is, ‘I know this because I am taught this, but I don’t know it from reality.’ This is a powerful story.”
The project also inspired those teachable moments. Plaia said that many of the students plunged into research on everything from homophobia to state statutes on hate crimes—not because of class assignments, but because “they were interested,” she said.
“In our last rehearsal, I asked the cast members to write Matthew a letter as their character, then write one from themselves personally,” Plaia said. “Basically, we all sat around and sobbed. This experience has brought more awareness of the difference between ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance.’ This message is not just for teens. It’s for everybody.”
The rehearsal process also brought out a desire to make a statement against intolerance. Plaia and the cast erected a “Peace Fence” around the theater in honor of Matthew Shepherd and to bring into stark focus the inhumanity of his death—tied to a fence post. Since the Malibu High fence was erected on October 30, it has been bedecked with dozens of purple ribbons proclaiming “Erase Hate.”
“This project has become bigger than us,” Plaia said.
Kela Sachs is an 11th-grader in the cast and said she sees the play as a positive statement of diversity. But she isn’t sure how much has changed in American society in the 15 years since the play was created.
“This play is all about acceptance,” Sachs said. “You hear on the news about some bad things happening but, as a whole, some things have changed a little in this country. It’s not yet hunky dory, but we’re getting there.”
Sachs feels grateful that she was raised in Malibu, where, she said, there is much greater tolerance for different lifestyles. She is part of a peer counseling group at MHS and says she is devastated to learn that there are children who are rejected by their parents because of their sexual orientation.
“With this play, it’s not just the shocking thing that happens,” Sachs said. “It’s that you are saying real words from real people. This is real. This is a show that matters.”
“The Laramie Project” will play at Malibu High School November 21, 22 and 23 at 7:00 p.m. and November 24 at 2:00. Tickets may be purchased at the door and online at www.malibuhigh.org.