The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project is a play about a pupil who passed away at Ottumwa High School. The fact that the student was gay made him the odd man out in the views of his fellow students, who had negative thoughts about his lifestyle, which ultimately led to his murder. However, that was not the only factor in the play's creation for the Laramie undertaking. Bullying, which was steadily becoming the institution's last name with each passing day, was handled with by the principal through initiative and deliberate action. Matthew Shepard was the pupil who just so happened to have life snatched away from him. Given the great role-play that was supposedly meant to be brought into the limelight when it was finally staged for both the tutors at the institution inclusive of the principal, parents and even other students themselves.

Mutually Exclusive Controversies

Several incidents herald controversy in both events surrounding the casting of the play and then there are others that take place in the midst of the play. The aforementioned are brought into the spotlight by some of the casts who act on stage.

Casting of the Play

The principal of Ottawa High School had been trying so hard to ensure that he did away with the incidences of bullying that were quickly becoming a talk of the day within and without the walls of the institution. His efforts were slowly taking route until the scenario about Matthew happened. It was a shocking case, but to him, it was a significant blow not only to his efforts to try to quell the bullying incidents but also dented his image before parents, students of the institution and the community as a whole. However, the point of controversy chips in when he rejects the casting of the play. His excuse, since the reason he gave was not that forthcoming was that the play had too much of adult content that would suffice to poison the minds of the young students.

The efforts he had put forward to deal with bullying did not bear much fruit, and when there was a chance to give it his best shot, he seemed not to be sure about the play. The play revolved about the occurrence of an actual event that had taken place under the leadership of the principal and showcasing the event turnout afresh would have served to show how incompetent he was in making the students feel safe in the school compound. The community and the students inclusive of the students' parents knew that he had been struggling so hard to deal with the vice that ruling over the school but then none of them could get themselves to comprehend his reasons for rejecting the plea to have the play cast.

Notably, the students who had taken their precious time were regrettably mad at him not only for not allowing them to cast the play but for letting them waste their time practicing and training for the play yet, in the end, they would not get it right on stage. Perhaps the principal was using the adult reason as a scape just to encourage the parents to be against the casting of the play, and it's an opinion that the officials of the Matthew Shepard Foundation shared on their Facebook and it was widely affirmed by a major part if not all of the community's population. This is due to the fact that blockading the students from one adult content in a play would not mean that they would not watch others when they were alone at home or wherever they would be at any opportune time. The principal's point of argument did not suffice to encourage a vast majority of either the parents, community or the students themselves.

The Casting of Philip Dubois' Children

Kaufman, who was the bran behind the crafting of the play causes a lot of controversies when he casts Dubois' children in the play. Dubois is the President of the University, and Kaufman quotes the sentiments that he gave claiming that he was safe living with his children in Wyoming yet in the recent past before his speech there had been the instant that leads to the demise of Matthew Shepard. It is quite contrary to the anticipation of both the general public and the community as a whole that he talks about safety in the midst of a crisis that had every tongue in Wyoming wondering. Due to Kaufman intelligent planning, he manages to intertwine the emotions of those watching the play when he introduces Dubois' children in the casting and sheds some light on the situation by letting those that Dubois' children were out playing the night of the fatal demise of Matthew Shepard. As it had been the custom, the children were never allowed to play out in the night unsupervised, yet it was the case that particular night which just raised more question in tandem with controversies as to the actual assailants behind the crime.

The manner in which Kaufman presents the events makes it appear as though they were happening anew on stage; more like events replica. The University's President makes a colorful conclusion of his statement by including the dire claim that even though Wyoming was a safe place to abode, it would most certainly drive a man insane. The controversy in such a situation is that the real scenario was not of a person being driven mad but one in which the victim is driven to the underworld most unnaturally: by brutal beatings from which he happened to have succumbed. In so saying, Dubois makes the situation appear as though it was one of those simple situations that people can easily walk past and act as though they never happened which only implies that he did not share in the weight that most of the parents of the high school had at heart.

While a significant part of the population was busy wondering how the death of Matthew Shepard had taken place in the dark of the night yet the perception they initially had about the institution was that their children were safe being in the walls of the school rather than being anywhere else, Dubois was busy saying how safe he felt living there. He was quite confident that the aforementioned thoughts had changed for the better and now they thought otherwise. Another very critical issue that popped out during the play was that the murder had taken place just a week after Matthew had joined the gay club in the school.

By joining the club as most understood, made it clear that he was proud of his sexual orientation and wanted to put everything in the open as his colleagues did. However, what he was not aware of was that in joining the club, he made himself vulnerable by exposing himself to those who were against LGBT community in the institution. Notably, there was hatred that was fueled by same-sex relationships, yet the school principal did so little in his position to fix the situation. There was a clear indication that the people behind Matthew's death were those were against gay relationships and the club members, but then the real question that spurred a lot of controversies was that of inquiring the actual culprits behind the demise. Jon Peacock states that Matthew was shy which helps understand the reason as to why he was an easy pick for those who were targeting gay people in the school.

Catherine Connolly in the part that she cast, states that she was approached by a girl on the phone who claimed she was also a lesbian and was willing to meet up with her. However, she mentions the fact that it was quite brave of Catherine to come out and hold her sexual orientation in the open as she did as it was her action that inspired her to do the same. The stranger also told Catherine that she knew of others who were of the same orientation but stated that they were not willing to schedule a meeting with Catherine since they did not want their secret to be known. The latter is an apparent acclamation that there hatred that was pilling with each passing day in Wyoming and its institutions. In the Easier said than done moment, Jonas Slonaker shares the experience that he had when he decided to visit other places just for the fun of it because he was of the opinion that people should visit and live in any place that interests them. In his monologue, he brings in the views that some of the people he met in gay bars had about Laramie, and surprisingly, most of them were proud of the place and wished they were residents of it.

Interview Opinions

The interview sessions that the participants in the play took spurred controversy. This was due to the unique variation in the opinions they had about the subject matter. While others were saddened by Matthew's brutal murder and the culprits were still in the wind probably scot-free, there were those who chose to view the situation from an entirely different perspective; they were not pained by the murder but the fact that the student had been gay. In the manner in which the narrator of the play presents events in the play suggests that he had planned to use the thoughts of those watching the play and twist them into forming ironical situations that would later form a peculiar casting in the play. Also, there were contrasting opinions among some of the casts such as Zubaida Ula, Zackie Salmon and the Matt's; Matt Galloway and Matt Mickelson about the Aaron McKinney's death penalty after his confession tape was played during the court hearing. While the Matts and Zubaida were not entirely sure about the culprit facing a death penalty, Zackie Salmon was contented that it was the only way for Aaron to feel the pinch of what he had made Matt Shepard undergo. The variation in the opinions also causes controversy in the play.