StratfordToday received the following letter from local director Ron Dodson regarding the 25th anniversary of The Laramie Project and the show coming to Stratford.
In the fall of 1998, I transitioned from teaching secondary drama - having produced and directed nearly 100 plays - to an administrative role with the Avon Maitland DSB. In mid-October that year, the shocking murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, rocked North America. Tortured and killed in Laramie, Wyoming, simply because he was gay, Shepard's death spurred an outpouring of grief and a reckoning with the attitudes enabling such violence. Over the following years, laws addressing hate crimes and protecting vulnerable minorities were implemented.
Four weeks after Shepard’s death, an innovative New York-based theatre troupe traveled to Laramie to interview residents. Over six visits, they conducted more than 200 and compiled their journals to create The Laramie Project. Premiering in 2000 in Denver and later in Laramie, the play examined the psyche of a community grappling with its identity and values. It became the most-produced play in the U.S. for two consecutive years.
Five years earlier, Stratford had its own shock: the 1993 brutal killing of “Dougy” Grass, murdered in his home just 550 feet from the building where I worked for 25 years. Dougy’s death, also motivated by his sexual orientation, devastated Stratford’s theatre community.
In February this year, we mark the 25th anniversary of The Laramie Project. I felt compelled, as an LGBTQ+ ally and a friend of Dougy’s, to bring it to Stratford. Stratford Winter Pride offered its arts stage dates. As word spread, the idea gaining enthusiastic support from the cast and creatives.
The play challenges us to confront personal and community values, giving voice to Matthew, Dougy, and the ongoing fight for equality.
Ron Dodson, director
Stratford
