These three directors are leading the production of York Drama’s The Laramie Project, a story about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including Wyoming. It has stirred many emotions, back when it happened and still today.By Dee Longfellow
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
Over the past 20 years that John Forsythe and Rebecca Marianetti have been directing York Drama together, they have found that when they co-direct plays, they garner creative energy from each other.
“We direct differently in some ways and exactly the same in others,” Forsythe said. “We spin ideas off of each other every day and constantly challenge ourselves as artists.”
Forsythe and Marianetti are now producing The Laramie Project, the winter theatre production to be performed by the York Drama Department. It has also been a long-time dream for the two of them.
“This has been a labor of love, for sure,” Marianetti said. “The story of Matthew Shepard is one of great tragedy, but also is inspiring and deeply hopeful.”
About the production
Developed in 2000 by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, The Laramie Project examines the public’s reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in many states but especially Wyoming.
York Drama’s production of The Laramie Project runs March 26, 27, 28 and April 4 and 5. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, March 16 at www.ticketpeak.co/yorkdrama and are $5 per viewing link plus $1.50 service charge. Donations are welcome and much appreciated, as York Drama continues to create art during this unprecedented year.
This is presented as an on-demand streaming with viewing links active between 5 p.m. to 12 midnight each day of the show. Note: Each day will require a new code, if you want to watch multiple days.
Stretching beyond the stage
Since live theatre is on pause almost everywhere, York created something special and produced The Laramie Project as a film. Student directors Olivia Rosenberg, Charlie Kungl, Jillian Caforio and Owen Espinosa, and stage managers Henry Wegener and Kayla Willey are heading the team, along with York alumni Matt Bourke and film director Michael Berry.
Technical Director Manny Ortiz and York Tech Crew built sets that appear to be interiors, yet were actually exterior shots, allowing for COVID-19 safety precautions.
Student leader Leo Macariola wrote an entire musical score for the movie for himself and York musicians Tessa and Quinn Olson.
“What Leo did with this music is nothing short of incredible,” said Marianetti. “He, along with all of our student leaders, rose to the occasion and used their talents and hearts to create something truly meaningful.”
The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members’ own journal entries, and published news reports. The cast of York’s production was able to meet via Zoom with Barbara Pitts, an original member of the Tectonic Theatre and a writer and developer of The Laramie Project.
After meeting with Pitts, senior Kathryn King reflected on the project herself.
“When I set out to research The Laramie Project and its characters, I was overwhelmed by the weight this story carried and the importance of both its legacy and the legacy of the people it touched,” she said. “I’ve found it incredibly challenging to try and incorporate that sense of realness and remembrance into the portrayal of the characters I play, all while reminding myself that they are indeed real human beings, not characters created for this play. They have lives and souls and hearts.
“There’s something about the fact that all of these characters are real people that makes this story so much more moving.”
Stay tuned for the York musical Theory of Relativity airing in May. This stunning musical reflects on how we are all connected and how we are nothing without each other.
