Patriot Players to Stage 'The Laramie Project'

Buzz is building around the Patriot Players’ production of The Laramie Project.

“A lot of kids are excited about it—not just kids in the show, but kids around school are talking about it,” said Patt Giblin, the drama club advisor and the play’s director.

The Laramie Project, written by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project, tells the story of the impact of Matthew Shepard’s murder on the community of Laramie, WY. Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten and killed in October 1998. His death rose to national prominence because many believed Shepard was targeted because he was gay.

The play is primarily a series of monologues drawn from interviews members of the Tectonic Theater Project conducted with Laramie residents and Shepard’s friends and acquaintances.

The Patriot Players production, which debuts Thursday at the Freehold Township High School Theater, features a cast of 26. A production crew of 23 assisted with bringing the play together.

The set for The Laramie Project features outlines of houses and buildings. Giblin explained that the spare set highlights that the tragedy in Laramie is something that could happen anywhere.

“I didn’t want to define the set. I wanted it to be something you could find anywhere. That’s why you see plain buildings. I didn’t want Wyoming ranch houses or anything like that,” Giblin said.

The Laramie Project was most recently performed in the Freehold Regional High School District by Manalapan High School in 2010. The production was protested by the Westboro Baptist Church, a group that picketed at Shepard’s funeral. Giblin said the school has not heard any rumblings from the group of planned protests at Freehold Township High School.

In his director’s notes in the playbill, Giblin explained The Laramie Project is often misunderstood.

“The play is not questioning anyone’s religious beliefs. It is not challenging, nor is it justifying, any way of life. The reason this play has always been controversial is that it asks us all to look at ourselves,” Giblin wrote.

The Laramie Project will be performed at Freehold Township High School on Thursday, Nov. 17, Friday, Nov. 18 and Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. An afternoon performance is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for students and senior citizens and $10 for general admission.