Week of Oct. 31, 2024

From the editor’s desk

Sometimes a work of art is so well-conceived and well-executed that its mark lasts for generations. The Laramie Project—the 2000 play about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of gay Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard—is one of them.

I first saw the play in the early 2000s at Great Basin College in Elko. I admit I hesitated to attend a show tackling such heavy and heartbreaking subject matter, but I had a rule: I lived in Elko County then, and because the art scene was so small, I made it a point to support and attend any art, music or theater event I possibly could.

I’m glad I went. The story itself—told through the points of view of more than 60 characters from Shepard’s hometown as they process his gruesome murder—was incredibly well-told and moving, and the small-town college’s production was excellent. This is a play without an elaborate set, so the tech team has to do a lot with a little; much of the Elko crew’s clever, resourceful music, lighting and blocking choices remain clear in my memory two decades later.

The Laramie Project is still one of the most performed pieces of theater in the U.S., and it’s popular with high school and college theater departments. The University of Nevada, Reno’s production of the play is now in rehearsal, and it opens tomorrow.

For our November print-edition cover story, RN&R theater writer Jessica Santina interviewed cast members, director Bill Ware, and Shepard’s childhood friend Zeina Barkawi, each of whom shared a different perspective on how challenging—and necessary—it is to continue to tell this story.

For yet another perspective, I chatted with Stacey Spain, Our Center’s director and a former college theater instructor, about what it was like to teach the play for 15 years as attitudes toward LGBTQ+ rights shifted, and Shepard’s death receded further into history.

Keep an eye out for Jessica’s article on the cover of the November RN&R as the print edition gets distributed throughout the region over the next few days. And you can read the main story and the interview with Spain online today.

Take care,

—Kris Vagner, managing editor