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Amador Valley High School students will present “The Laramie Project at 7:30 p.m. tonight through Saturday night in the Amador Theater.
The presentation by the school’s drama students is about Matthew Shepard, 21, who was gay, who In October 1998 was kidnapped, brutally beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo.
“I hope that in the grief of this moment and in the shared outrage across America, Americans will once again search their hearts and do what they can to reduce their own fear and anxiety and anger at people who are different.”
The drama students at Amador Valley High were focused last week at rehearsal for “The Laramie Project,” as they recited the poignant lines of the townsfolk grappling to understand a tragedy in their midst.
“I’ve never seen a cast so focused on portraying these real characters,” said drama teacher Kelsey Hartman. “They can search online and see the characters on videos. It’s a real challenge for them and an interesting one, to play a 68-year-old rancher and turn around and play a 16-year-old friend of Matthew’s.”
In October 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, who was gay, was kidnapped, brutally beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo. Five weeks later, members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and, during the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with the residents.
The result of these interviews is “The Laramie Project,” which shows both how the town begins to fall apart immediately after the event and then how it healed.
“This play to me isn’t about being gay but how a town almost unravels because of a hate crime and how they have to rally together to heal,” Hartman said.
“We still have issues on campus, not just homophobia but racism,” she added. “It’s not pervasive but it happens on campus. I felt it was time to open up a discussion — on how students treat each other on campus and how we treat other people.”
She said she has known students who left the school because it was too painful for them to be on campus.
“Actually it’s a play I felt was important to do four years ago but the administration at that time wasn’t willing to try it,” Hartman said.
Before beginning production this year, she made sure everyone understood the play and its relevance. Principal Jim Hansen and the school district, from Senior Director of Pupil Services Kevin Johnson to Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi, are supportive of it, she said.
A friend of hers who taught drama at another high school in the Bay Area said that producing the play was a life-changing experience for both her and the cast.
Members of Amador’s Gay Straight Alliance are also part of the production.
“After the Friday performances we are doing a forum where audience members can stay afterward and talk to the cast and crew and members of GSA,” Hartman said.
She also noted that the play has 60 roles, which gave her the freedom to cast as many actors as she chose. Twenty-one students are playing the 60 characters, plus the production has 20 technicians to move scenery and props and otherwise help with logistics.
“It’s a play that’s based on interviews, in Laramie and outside Laramie, and it’s sometimes a short interview then it transitions out,” Hartman explained.
A photo of Matthew Shepard and of the fence where he was left to die will be projected, as well as the big blue sky of Wyoming.
“They are a huge part of the production in general,” Hartman said.
“Matt was right there in that spot, and I can just picture, in his eyes, I can picture what he was seeing. The last thing that he saw on this earth was the sparkling lights of Laramie, Wyoming.”
Responding to tragedy
What: “The Laramie Project,” by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project
Who: Amador Valley High School Drama
Where: Amador Theatre, 1155 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton
When: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, 4, 5
Tickets: Box office opens at 6:45 p.m. Students (no children under 6) and seniors, $5; adults, $8
Other: On Friday night, the Amador Gay Straight Alliance will join the cast and crew for an audience Q&A after the performances.
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Catherine Connolly (Julia Brunelli) speaks to Tectonic Theater Group member Stephen Belber (Charles Platt) about being a professor at the University of Wyoming and an out lesbian, as group members spread throughout Laramie interviewing townspeople after the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard. Photo by Jessica Rager. -
Sgt. Hing (Jay Sharma) of the Laramie police speaks to Tectonic Theater Group member Greg Periotti (Alex Magni) about life in Laramie. Photo by Dolores Fox Ciardelli. -
University President Philip Dubois (Travis Himebaugh) and Laramie resident Zacki Salmon (Jordan Bilotti) speak about the people of Laramie. Photo by Dolores Fox Ciardelli. -
Students and Laramie residents walk in support of Matthew behind the Homecoming Parade, (l-r) Sarah O’Brien, Andre Gallego, Mariah Brown, Alex Magni, Julia Brunelli, Ainslee Burns, Emily Helmer, Travis Himebaugh and Charles Platt. Photo by Jessica Rager. -
Greg Periotti (Alex Magni) interviews Laramie residents. Photo by Dolores Fox Ciardelli.
About time this play was performed in Pleasanton! Break a leg AVHS players!
Yawn, how very PC of the school district.
oh Ewwwwwwwww, youse so TRITE…tee hee hee, tee hee hee…
Friend’s child is in play, saw it last night. Powerful piece. Highly recommend it to *everyone* – parents, educators, teens, young adults. And it is easy on the budget, too!
I went to opening night and I was absolutely blown away by the performance. These young actors were amazing, they gave life to a very powerful, poignant and difficult piece.
Congratulations to the cast, the crew and to Mrs.Hartman. Great job everybody, great job!
Opening night was beyond expectation. Its easy to forget these are teenagers when witnessing this play. The actor portraying Matthew Sheppard’s father gives a heart wrenching speech at the end of the play…..truly amazing. I will see it again. As a parent of one of the actors I must say that I am so proud of the time, dedication, heart and passion that these young people put into every project put in their path, especially this one. I love you all.
I would love to see this, I didn’t know about it so appreciate the heads up.
When I was in high school, they never would have allowed anything like this. This is typical liberal junk coming from our public schools once again. If you take the time to research the REAL story of Matthew Shepard, you will discover that he was not killed because he was gay. The leftists in the media created this story to fit their template of what this story SHOULD be, not what the story actually was. The fact that he was gay was an afterthought, and this was not a hate crime. But nobody digs for the real story any more…..instead, people just go with their ‘feelings’ and that’s good enough. Couldn’t these student actors do Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, or some other type of appropriate play for high school??
Here is a brief synopsis of the REAL story of Matthew Shepard:
http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/exploiting-matthew-shepard/
There is much more than just this. I’ll be the drama teachers at the high school didn’t teach this now did they? Of course not! It doesn’t fit their template of the gay victim.
You know, Joe…. it is exactly because of people like you (who deem themselves the recipients of the REAL truth) that we need more of this “typical liberal junk coming from our public schools “. We need our young people to show compassion and respect to others, something that you are not clearly willing to give to this matter.
If you had even bothered to get yourself acquainted with this play, you would have found out that it is based on actual interviews with real people, the people that lived this nightmare.
Have you read any material from the trial? The testimonies that were given? The “gay panic defense” the murderers used? The “real story” you mention was entirely based on the claims of the murderers and the prosecutor and it as never really found believable by anybody with direct knowledge of the facts, like for example the Laramie Police Chief.
But more than anything in the world Joe, why would they have tied him to a fence, tortured him, and left him to die alone, in the freezing cold, if their only intent was to rob him?
Tying a human being to a fence, in fact crucifying him, does amount to a hate crime,and so much so that legislation has been passed in this young man’s name : The Matthew Shepard Act was passed by the Senate and President Obama signed into law in October 2009.
Why don’t you go see the play, and see that these young actors have much more compassion and tolerance that you have shown with your comments. We should applaud them, Mrs.Hartman and the administration for spreading a message a hope,caring and compassion. And by the way, I find this play VERY appropriate for a high school setting (and it is PG13), they are our future, and they will be the ones to create a more tolerant society.
@ Joe
Consider the source.
From Wikipedia:
Despite AIM’s assertion of political neutrality, it is frequently described by the mainstream media and other media watchdog groups as a conservative organization.
I will buy you a ticket if you will go see the play with me! I will even take you to dinner first, to make it worth your while.
This question is for Joe. If I can find multiple sources of the “Real” Matthew Shepard story online, how do I determine which one is the truth? How did you decide which version of the story is the truth. Did you look at the evidence and weigh the possibilities against the testimony of the witnesses?
I suspect that no matter the issue I can find a story online that will support my point of view. This is not a liberal or conservative play, it is a play that was built from interviews of actual people involved in the murder and investigation.
Go see the play. I really hope that you just posted the stuff you said to be controversial, it scares me that people could actually think like that still.
You have all drank the liberal Kool-Aid. It’s easy to attack me and not the topic, isn’t it? (By the way, Wikipedia is known to be severely incorrect in it’s contents and most major universities do not allow it’s use because of this. Remember the old adage: Garbage in, garbage out).
I have nothing wrong with being compassionate and teaching compassion. But these are high school kids in a drama class. They are being brainwashed into believing that the Matthew Shepard case was a “hate crime” when it absolutely was not. It was a crime, but not a hate crime. And “poor Matthew Shepard” was a meth addict and hung around with low life scum, so let’s not try to make the guy out to be some type of cult hero like he is in this play. No, he did not deserve to be murdered–nobody does (I had to say that because I know that some of you would say that I believed he deserved to die, because your liberal brainwashing tells you these things). This case was about a low life versus other another group of low life characters, and the crime of murder was committed. Why is this being made into a sob story, “oh poor me” type of hero show on a high school stage???
I don’t understand why this boils down to a liberal vs. conservative agenda. One’s sexuality has nothing to do with one’s political viewpoint. I saw AVHS production of the Laramie Project last weekend, and it was excellent! These kids are our future, thank God! What a wonderful portrayal of a very important topic. If this means that my straw is sucking on the liberal Kool-Aid, than so be it. I’d rather suck that Kool-Aid any day than the conservative, war-mongering, hate-ridden drama that contributed to Matt Shepherd’s death in the first place. Go see the play! I spread my Angels’ Wings over you, dear sir!
My issue is not with the kids. I’m glad to hear that they are performing well and that they are putting on a good production. My point is that the kids have been brainwashed into believing that Matthew Shepard is some sort of martyr and/or hero who is to be looked up to. But if we examine who Shepard really was, he was a low-life meth addict who happened to be gay. High school kids don’t need to be spoon fed the liberal bias on “gay victimology” by acting it out in a play! They need to be taught the TRUTH, and this play is nothing but a big, fat lie. It is fiction–but the kids don’t understand this. Their minds, views, and opinions are being shaped by liberal instructors who only show them one side of the story. They are not being prepared, as they should be, to go out into this world equipped with the truth. Instead, all we’re producing are a bunch of “Occupy Wall Street” idiots who have no idea what they’re protesting. And the root of this type of thing goes back to what they were taught in school—IT’S ALL CONNECTED—and people need to speak up and stop remaining silent out of fear of not being liked. I knew when I posted my comments that I would be attacked for not being “sensitive” or not being “tolerant”. That’s actually not anywhere close to the truth—I’m more tolerant than any liberal I know, and I am very conservative. I just believe that it stinks that these high school kids have been brainwashed into working very hard to produce what sounds like is probably a good production—but it’s all based on lies.
I went to the production of this same play at Dougherty Valley H.S. in San Ramon. While the subject matter was handled well, I walked away thinking that if this were a movie it would receive an R rating. The use of 4-letter words, sexual references and seeing 14 years pretending to be drinking alcohol disturbed me. This is not a community production, because grade school and middle school aged children should not see it because of these factors. I would think the student handbook would prohibit these 4-letter words as well as the references to drinking. This play should be reserved for college productions. 14 year old freshman should not say they are sh*%&$t-faced as part of a play. Hopefully the Amador production cleaned up its language.
AMAZING! SO proud that the administration allowed these students the opportunity to work on this very important project. Was additionally impressed by how articulate the students were during the dialogue after the production. It is because of events like this that I am proud to live in Pleasanton.
Hey Joe do you happen to have a facebook? I’d like to add you