Bartlett High theater troupe takes on serious subject matter in ‘The Laramie Project’

The more Selena Morales learned about this fall’s theatrical production at Bartlett High, the more she considered it through a present-day lens.

The play, “The Laramie Project,” depicts the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming.

Morales, a junior, is part of the eight-person cast performing the play this week. She said she sees the story not as a snapshot of history, but as more of a cautionary tale.

“It seems so far in the past, but also, it’s something that if you don’t learn about it and you don’t know about it, then it’s something that really isn’t going to be in the past,” Morales said.

Shepard’s death and the trial of his killers became major national news and eventually led to federal hate crime legislation being enacted. The play was first produced in 2000 and is based on interviews and public comments by hundreds of people in Laramie, Wyoming, where Shepard was a student.

“This is something I’m a part of, and it’s something I can say, ‘I’ve done this,’ ” Morales said. “But for a lot of people the reality is that something like that could happen to them. It’s not just a play for some people.”

The play is scheduled to be performed at Bartlett High Theater on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. The cost is $8 for adults and high school students and $5 for kids, seniors and members of the military.

The subject matter is undeniably heavy and something the cast has wrestled with. But Bartlett Theater Director Megan Meier said the students have found performing the play to be productive.

“I think a lot of them are seeing it less as something that’s weighed on them, and more as an opportunity to maybe spark some new change,” she said.

Meier said she selected the play after having a few students came to her when the last school production wrapped in the spring.

“(They said) we want to see people who look like us on stage,” Meier said. “We’re all various shades of the LGBTQ+ community and we want to be in shows that have that representation and we want to be in productions that matter.”

Senior Reece Lunn, who is acting in the production, said she’s been on the receiving end of gay slurs and that has made for sometimes emotional rehearsals.

“I have a lot of emotions, I guess, around this subject,” Lunn said. “I think at a certain point, it feels like it’s more important to tell the message than it really is to have (to deal with) your own bad day.”

The play has provided a unique experience in a number of ways. It’s done with just eight actors who portray more than 60 characters in a series of vignettes and monologues.

It also includes real-life people as opposed to fictitious characters. Meier said cast members have done independent reading about the events and the trial that are referenced in the play.

“Remember, you’re still portraying a real person,” Meier said, repeating her instruction to the cast. “This person had these thoughts and had these feelings and and went through these experiences. And I think it gives them kind of a lot to pull from.”

Despite the challenging subject matter, the production has been positive experience for Morales, who said her interest was spurred by her brother’s involvement in theater.

“This has been like a really eye-opening experience,” Morales said. “And I’m really thankful that I get to be a part of something like this.”