Last month, Culver City High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts program presented a powerful production to the community: the documentary-play “The Laramie Project.” The play, originally written by Moisés Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project, explores the reaction to the 1998 hate crime against homosexual university student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.
The murder was denounced as a hate crime and drew attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states. Due to its sensitive subject matter, the production is banned in many high school theaters, but not at CCUSD. The institution is known for not shying away from controversial subjects. For instance, it was the first high school in the country to present David Henry Hwang’s “Yellowface” in 2021.
Backstage moments with student Ruby Brandenburg, donning a headset and sharing insights: “Understanding that this is still prevalent in today’s world, people should just listen and take in the real stories. Sitting backstage every day, I hear something different each time. I hope people understand and take in the beautiful actors, lights, and everything, appreciating the beautiful artwork.”
The production was so profound and powerful that it would be easy for an audience member to forget that they were watching a live reanimation instead of a true-crime documentary. It may seem curious that the production is avoided at many high school theaters, as it inherently brings awareness to homophobia and heinous crimes historically committed as a result of it.
However, once witnessing the script coming to life, it becomes evident that the documentary-style theater production does relay words said by the actual residents of Laramie in 1998, including slurs that have been since forgotten in public society such as Culver City.
“It was definitely hard at first,” student actress Davis Barthelman said. “Especially as a queer student myself. I think what was really helpful is, before every show, we did a meditation to kind of get in the headspace, and then just hugging each other and holding each other and just saying, ‘I got your back.'”
Culver City, in the heart of Los Angeles County, is rich in diversity. According to a 2019 report provided by the California Department of Education, 45% of LGBTQ youth say that their families sometimes or often say bad things about LGBTQ people in general. Therefore, while the media might not want to portray such realistic representations of homes of LGBTQ+ youth, CCUSD prioritized creating an environment that made this important production possible while protecting the students within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I play Aaron McKinney, one of the perpetrators, one of the people who did this to Matthew,” student actor Isaiah Griffin said. “And he has a lot of lines that settle into me the brutality of this crime that I had never heard of up until auditioning for this play.”
The play itself is uniquely impactful due to its documentarian nature. While most live productions are based on a work of fiction or potentially based on some ambiguous level of a true story, this story is told as if it is a true documentary. The lines that the actors recite are close, if not verbatim, to those said by the actual people involved in the events of 1998.
“This is a really powerful experience, and we have to show the audience what it really means and what it meant for people to experience this,” Griffin said. “Even some of my teachers, I asked them if they’re coming and were like, ‘I don’t know if I can handle it.'”
Ultimately, the students and faculty of Culver City High School put on an impactful production, leaving the audience each night feeling understandably solemn as well as enlightened to the kind of brutality that exists in the country and the language surrounding it through powerful acting and an occasional melody.
