Film at 11

The Laramie Project

We just returned from a production of "The Laramie Project" at the Bus Barn Theatre
in Los Altos. For those who don't know, it's a retelling, through a series of monologues, of the story of Matthew Shepard, a gay university student who, in 1998, was beaten to death in Laramie, Wyoming. A theatre group in New York spent several months interviewing the citizens of Laramie and the surrounding community about their reactions to the crime and compiled the best of these interviews into a play. The particular production we saw had the added benefit of starring Thomas, one of my favorite teenagers, in a series of roles, including the boy who found Matthew Shepard's body as he was riding his bike. The play was made this past year into a movie for HBO , which I had seen and enjoyed a lot, but seeing it on stage made it all the more powerful. At the end of the play, we asked Thomas how he was able to do this play three nights a week and walk around and laugh and have fun during the day. His answer was, "Actually, after starting the play, I've actually been laughing more." If you've got a minute, drop by the Bus Barn and catch it. It runs through October 19th, so you've still got plenty of time. Who knows, gentle reader. If you called us once in a while to see how we were doing, we might even go with you to see it again.