Review of a past presentation in NW Washington:

Review by Charles from Snohomish County
Republished here by Robert.

Several of us from the Gay Men's Task Force attended last evening's opening night performance of The Laramie Project presented by the Anacortes High School Theatre Department directed by Scott Burnett and assisted by Amy Franklin.

The play was written by Moises Kaufman and members of New York City's Tectonic Theatre Company based on over 200 interviews they conducted in Wyoming over a one year period following the murder of Matthew Shephard in Laramie. The play explores a variety of viewpoints of people in Laramie while trying to be fair and non-judgemental.

The play's director, Scott Burnett, told us in his program notes that his young cast have the sense that they are "creating a gift for our community." They have been very successful in creating this wonderful gift not only for the greater Anacortes area, but also for the larger community of sexual minorities and social justice activists who care deeply about basic American values.

From the program notes by director, Scott S. Burnett:

"One of the great strengths of this play is its universal quality. This is a message play, but there is no exclusive agenda. The questions raised are more far reaching than just this unspeakably tragic case. Why do we hate those that are different from us? What role does our society play in the creation of young men who could do such violence? What is my responsibility?  What can we do about it? I don't want to minimize the frightening reality of the violence faced by gay and lesbian Americans. But this need to strike out against people who are different is a global issue.  These things do happen in our country. We need to own this. It is simply insufficient to say 'I'm not homophobic...or racist, or sexist, or ...' We must understand that the problem will not 'just go away' and that we must take a clear stand. This is not just a liberal battle cry. People from all beliefs and backgrounds must insist that in America, a person need not live in fear because of the way they look, or think, or live, or love. 

.........We know that when we do plays that are serious and contemporary, we do so at the risk of losing some of our audience. And so, we are even more grateful than usual for your attendance."

Five performances ran between March 21- 30 2002 at the school's  Brodniak Theater.

Charles