In October of 1998, openly gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was found tied to a fence, beaten and unconscious. After 5 days in a coma, Shepard succumbed to his injuries and his murder was denounced and tried as a hate crime. Members of the Tectonic Theater Project travelled to Laramie to conduct over 400 interviews with more than 100 residents of the town. ‘The Laramie Project’ is a portrait of this town: an average community redefined by a heinous crime.
Theatre Travels is presenting ‘The Laramie Project’ and ‘The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later’ and we had the opportunity to email some questions to Co-Directors Carly Fisher and Rosie Niven.
SAG: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions while you are so busy in the States doing research.
Can I begin by asking, for the readers who aren’t up on the naming conventions, what Verbatim Theatre is and how it differs from Documentary Theatre or, say, traditional, real life theatre forms?
ROSIE Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre in which the text is constructed from interviews conducted about a particular event or topic. This differs from non-verbatim theatrical forms, because the words you’re hearing and the events you’re seeing unfold on stage are completely real.
In its strictest form, verbatim theatre is comprised entirely of interviews, but often verbatim theatre will also contain recorded speeches, news reports, and other recorded texts.
In this case, the Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town, and used those interviews (along with other recorded texts) to create ‘The Laramie Project’.
SAG The original play, ‘The Laramie Project’, by Moisés Kaufman and Members of the Tectonic Theater Project 2001 is on the HSC Drama syllabus. What makes that work so ground-breaking?
CARLY I think it’s great that we’ve seen the Laramie project remain on the HSC drama list for years now. Beyond being an important example of the verbatim theatre form, this play finds itself on the list of important works of the twentieth century in large part due to its honest portrayal of this community in the aftermath of a heinous crime. In 1998 when this play was first written the company’s open discussion on the attitudes towards homosexuality and AIDS contributed to its being groundbreaking. And 20 years later, one of the main reasons that this show remains relevant is because of the careful and considerate treatment of both the content but also the Verbatim style.
In many ways though, I feel that the fact that this show isn’t completely groundbreaking is really what Tectonic was trying to say – incidents like this happen often and the mistreatment of individuals for enumerate reasons is always awful. This could have happened in any little town and happened to happen in Laramie. It’s this sense of familiarity that makes the show so powerful – you can easily understand how this is a story that could happen in Sydney in 2018 as easily as it did in Laramie in 1998.
To me, that’s the power of the work they created and why this work will continue to remain an incredibly important piece to study. This show is a great example of how much we can learn from a piece of theatre and I hope schools recognise the importance of exposing their students to works like The Laramie Project and bring their students along.
SAG: ‘The Laramie Project’ is set in 1998 and the second is 10 years later? In ‘The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later’ where does the focus lie? Is it about the change in the people or their attitudes or the rights gained or lost?
ROSIE That’s correct – Tectonic Theater Project arrived in Laramie on November 14th, 1998, a month after Matthew’s beating and consequent death. They interviewed members of the town, as well as family and friends, and compiled these interviews (along with journal entries from the company members and published news reports) into what we know as ‘The Laramie Project’.
The focus of the story is on the murder of Matthew Shepard, but also how this murder impacted this small town. When the media descended on Laramie after the incident, the people in the town were given no time at all to process the event themselves, then suddenly their home is spread across national, international news. ‘The Laramie Project’ explores the impact of Matthew’s death on this town, both good and bad.
’10 Years Later’ revisits the town – a town that never expected to be famous, and will forever be tainted by a crime. Tectonic Theater Project returned to try to understand the long-term effect of Matthew’s murder, and to explore how such an event could change the attitudes of a town.
SAG It’s a massive undertaking isn’t it? 75 characters in repertory and complex challenging storytelling and Theatre Travels’ debut production.
CARLY Absolutely! These shows are no small undertaking, especially as we are doing both. However, I really don’t think that there is any better time for us to be talking about an important work like ‘The Laramie Project’ again, especially as we approach the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s passing. Last year’s Marriage Equality plebiscite was a stark reminder to us all that there is definitely still need for us to talk about the importance of tolerance and to keep the lines of communication open about acceptance and the beauty of individuality. In light of last year’s events, I definitely felt that this was the right time to put on both of these shows because I think ‘The Laramie Project:10 Years Later’ has a lot to say that can only come with time having passed and the benefit of hindsight.
75 characters, 9 actors, 2 full length shows – it’s certainly ambitious! But I have been waiting for the right time to do the right show for Theatre Travels’ debut production and I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was it! So call me crazy (I certainly am) but I am so excited about the shows and about the amazing team that I have put together to make these debut productions for Theatre Travels, and 20th anniversary productions for ‘The Laramie Project’, something truly special!
SAG: It’s now 20 years since this horrific event, what can you see on the ground there? Does it give any hope for the LGBT community here in Australia?
ROSIE Whilst in Laramie, we met a number of openly gay residents, and it certainly seems that there has been progression since the murder of Matthew Shepard.
What’s disappointing though, is the lack of recognition of Matthew Shepard in the town of Laramie. There is a single memorial bench, deep in the grounds of the University of Wyoming, and it doesn’t even mention his story. It simply mentions his name, and wishes him peace. We went to historical sites, and asked residents about the history of the town. Not a single person, pamphlet, or sign mentioned him. The first mention we saw of him was at a small history museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and even then it was nothing more than a tiny poster in the corner. Matthew’s story is not something that is spoken about as part of Laramie’s history – I think they really want to move past it.
In spite of this, I can see change in Laramie. The University of Wyoming now hosts the Matthew Shepard Symposium for Social Justice, and also boasts the largest LGBT resource centre in Wyoming. What’s important to remember though, is that this could have happened in any town. This horrific event is not exclusive to Laramie, and Sydney has its own dark history with hate crimes. What gives me the most hope is that fact that we are starting to acknowledge that dark history, and creating dialogue around LGBT rights and how we can help achieve tolerance and equality.
SAG Heartbreaking! There is no doubt about how emotional these productions are going to be. Even though it’s a short season, do you suggest seeing them back to back or does one need a break to recover?
CARLY I think that one of the greatest achievements of these works is that, despite the tragedy that it follows, the Tectonic Theater Project company members have been able to piece together their many interviews in such a way that there is real light and shade throughout both the shows.
There are heartbreaking moments, particularly when we hear from Matthew Shepard’s parents, but there are also moments that really show the resilience of the community in the aftermath of the crime and the individual personalities of the townspeople. The shows are not tragically depressing at all. They are real examples of a real community and I think that what is beautiful is that the shows give you permission to smile or laugh at times and to be emotionally moved at others.
With that in mind, I don’t think you need time to recover per say. I think that you are given a real opportunity to take in these shows as it suits you – we have options so that you can see it all in a day or you can take time in between each show. However you see it, what I think is really exciting about bringing both of them to the stage is that you get insight into the same characters after time has passed, after the initial shock of the tragedy, after life has continued. However you choose to see the shows, back to back or with time in between, if you can make it to both, I would definitely recommend it!
SAG Thank you so much for your time, I think it will be a very moving season. Especially December 1st which is World Aids day and a time to reflect for the community. I am very much looking forward to the productions, best wishes for a successful run.
THE LARAMIE PROJECT and 10 YEARS LATER from Theatre Travels [Facebook] will play at the Seymour Centre from November 28 to Dec 8.