Play revisits Laramie hate murder

Thirteen years ago Matthew Shepard, 21, a University of Wyoming student was robbed, pistol-whipped and left to die tied to a fencepost on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo. When the murder occurred in October 1998, it horrified a continent that such an abhorrent crime was committed solely because Shepard was gay.

Shepard’s murder brought international attention to the issue of hate crimes against homosexuals. However, it took a decade to pass hate crime legislation, and it was only under President Barack Obama that it was made law.

Edmonton director Stephen Liley of PETS Productions says, “So much has changed. But at the same time nothing has changed. There have been small changes at the grassroots level, but not a lot has changed with gay hate crimes.” And he cites the recent rash of bullying and gay teen suicides.

Liley is directing two companion plays that reveal how Shepard’s murder affected the city of Laramie. During the media circus and glaring spotlight of a murder trial, New York playwright/director Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theatre Project travelled to Laramie and interviewed 200 townspeople. From those interviews, using people’s own words, they wrote The Laramie Project playing at the TransAlta Arts Barn from Nov. 10 to 13.

A decade later, they returned to Laramie to see if any changes had occurred. They re-interviewed many of the same people and also spoke with the two murderers — Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later follows from Nov. 17 to 20.

About 80 actors auditioned for a role in the play. Three St. Albert actors that will perform are Ric’s Grill manager Bradley McInenly, playwright and public relations manager for Citadel Theatre Jason Magee and St. Albert Children’s Theatre alumnus Josh Languedoc.

McInenly, along with the other 21 actors play multiple characters. Two of his roles are in an observational capacity — that of Jeffrey Lockwood, a university professor, who has a strong understanding of how the murder affected the community, and Father Rodger, a non-judgmental priest determined to understand the events and the murders.

In one of Roger’s sobering assessments of the murderers, he says, “We must accept you as a type of teacher we don’t make the same mistakes again,” McInenly explains.

Both productions are stripped down without any fancy trappings. All the focus is on the characters’ stories. “It’s very powerful because it’s their words. It’s their thoughts. It’s their stories. No one is making it up. It’s real.”

And so is gay harassment. “The same issues that were back then are still here. I don’t think Matthew Shepard is a legacy that should be forgotten.”