‘The Laramie Project’: NCS Theater Brings a Weighty Story to the Stage

This weekend, NCS and St. Albans School will present “The Laramie Project,” a play about the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. The drama draws from hundreds of real-life interviews with the people of Laramie, Wyo., where Shepard lived and was slain. The details around the death drew national attention and prompted many to ask whether Shepard had been targeted by his killers as a gay man.

On the 20th anniversary of Shepard’s death last October, his remains were interred at Washington National Cathedral. Theater teacher Chris Snipe recalls this moment as his catalyst for choosing the play, which had been done once before on the Close, in 2009.

“I kept coming back to [‘The Laramie Project’] as something we needed to talk about. There’s so much in the media going on in our country, with hate speech and discrimination against LGBTQ people, and it’s still relevant today. It felt very important to do,” he said.

Shepard was brutally beaten and tied to a fence in rural Wyoming, where a passerby happened upon him nearly a day later. Shepard was taken to a hospital but his injuries were too severe, and he died without regaining consciousness.

The Cathedral service and interment was the first time some NCS students learned what happened to Shepard.

“I was just shocked that these types of things are still happening. I mean, I know it was 20 years ago, but so recently. ... It was really sad to hear that someone could die just for loving someone,” said Madeline Fitzgerald ’21, an actor in the play and co-president of the NCS Gender and Sexuality Alliance.

When Snipe announced his choice of fall play to students, another actor, Ciara Hargrove ’20, was both excited and intimidated. “It means a lot, not only to Matthew Shepard’s family but also the LGBT community. And he’s buried at the Cathedral, there’s so much weight with that,” she said.

The weighty subject matter of the play makes this a difficult production to put on, said members of the cast and crew. Snipe has encouraged students to make their characters as authentic as possible, even if a character’s words are not what one personally believes. “You have to dive into these characters, find the humanity and the connection, and then bring that out,” Snipe said.

Among the 24 roles (each student plays 2-3 characters) are the two men in their 20s who killed Shepard and a friend of one of the killers. Fitzgerald plays the latter, a character called Anonymous.

“That was a very strange role to play because he starts off with this, ‘Oh, he was this great kid. I really liked him…’ It’s weird to not be able to say, ‘Hey wait, but I’m not like him.’ I feel like I need to defend myself because I’m playing that character, but that character does not feel that need,” she said.

For Julia Sherman ’22, taking on the role of Catherine Connolly, a lesbian professor at the University of Wyoming, was an eye-opening experience. “My character didn’t know Matthew, but she was so impacted by it. … She sees a truck do a U-turn, and she thinks it’s coming after her. To just sort of feel this paranoia all of the time—I tried to picture the closest time in my life when I’ve been incredibly afraid. And while that can’t measure up, I can begin to think of myself as her walking down the street.”

Being steps from Shepard’s final resting place has provided the cast and crew sobering opportunities to connect to the story. On Oct. 14, days after the 21st anniversary of Shepard’s death, Snipe and NCS chaplains took students to the Cathedral columbarium, which all described as a powerful moment. In the days before the first show, Shepard’s father, Dennis Shepard, visited the production before rehearsal and spoke to St. Albans students in an assembly.

“It’s suddenly much more real when you’re down in the columbarium looking at the name and when you’re looking at his father in the eyes,” said Snipe.

Fitzgerald agreed, “You can’t just turn this off when rehearsal’s over."

As emotionally exhausting as the production has been, Snipe and the students are excited for their community to see it.

“I hope people think about what they say and their actions and how it can have an impact on somebody. This is something that is still present in today’s society. It’s gotten better, but it’s still present. I still hear homophobic jokes,” said Hargrove.

“There’s a scene in the play where Father Schmit says, every time you use one of those homophobic slurs, that’s an act of violence; that’s an act of hate; that’s the seed that created this horrific crime,” said Snipe. “I hope people talk about it. I hope people remember it. And if they do remember it, to stand up for the rights of others now and in the future.”

Showtimes for “The Laramie Project” are Friday, Nov. 15, and Saturday, Nov. 16, at 8:00 pm and Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the NCS Box Office.