Signal Mountain High School students rehearse for their production of “The Laramie Project.”When people denounced the Oct. 12, 1998, murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, as a hate crime, it brought national attention to the lack of hate crime laws in states like Wyoming.
Among those whose attentions it captured were the members of the New York City-based Tectonic Theater Project, whose interviews with hundreds of Laramie, Wyo., residents following the murder served as the basis for Tectonic founder Moises Kaufman’s play (and later, film) “The Laramie Project.”
On several occasions since its release, members of the theater program at Signal Mountain High School said they have tried to produce the play, but their plans were nixed by school administrators because they felt it was “too controversial.”
The school’s theater program is now excited to be presenting the play for the first time, with showings scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 27-29, at 7:30 p.m. each night.
For Signal Mountain High School student Ethan Fell, a chance family vacation to New York City in mid-October provided him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet with Tony Award-winning playwright Kaufman. In researching for his role of Tectonic Theater Project member Stephen Belber, Ethan said he discovered that the company’s location happened to be on the same street as the hotel in which his family was staying.
Feeling it was fate, he reached out to the company, and was surprised when Kaufman agreed to a meeting.
Ethan said he found Kaufman very engaged and down-to-earth during their meeting. They talked about the town of Signal Mountain, touching on the small town’s similarities to Laramie as well as the school’s tight-knit theater group, said Ethan. He told Kaufman how excited the students are to be doing the play, and how much it means to the school as a whole for students to be given this avenue of expressing themselves.
“When he wrote the play, he wanted to make a difference, and that’s what we want to do,” said Ethan. “We hope to be a voice for people who can’t be heard.
“I think when you see this play, you’re not going to get a story about how somebody died, or about how homosexuality should be accepted. What you’re really going to hear is the difference between love and hate.”
The Friday night showing is both alumni night and “talkback night,” when the cast and crew interact with the audience.
Tickets cost $10 for adults and $7 for students, and can be bought at the door or preordered online at bit.ly/2duSQi0.