Preble High School's production of 'The Laramie Project' is a first for Green Bay School District

GREEN BAY - When the curtain goes up on “The Laramie Project” this weekend at Green Bay Preble High School, it will be a first for the Green Bay Area Public School District.

It’s the first time the play about the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old openly gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence in a field outside of Laramie, Wyoming, and left to die, is being produced by a school in the district, said Preble spring play director and language arts teacher Mike Schuh.

The Preble Players do two productions each school year, a musical in the fall and a play in the spring. Schuh, who previously directed “The Laramie Project” in 2010 at Neenah High School, was looking for a dramatic title after the lighter fare of last fall’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

After collaborative conversations last fall that included now former Green Bay superintendent Claude Tiller and now interim superintendent Vicki Bayer about how the play’s “message of hope could reach our students and our neighbors and our family members,” “The Laramie Project” was approved, Schuh said. Preble principal Courtney Kuehn was also supportive, he said.

A cast and crew of 20 students with Preble Players have been at work on the production since February and are eager to share it with audiences.

“I think we’re going to have a fantastic show, because the show rests in the heart and soul of our kids, and they are very dedicated in really kind of producing a fantastic show,” Schuh said. “I feel like we’re going to be awesome, because we have awesome kids. They have something to say, and they have their own little take on it.”

There are two performances, both open to the public.

"The Laramie Project” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Green Bay Preble. Tickets are available at the door for $10 general public and $5 Green Bay Area Public School District staff and students.

The play by Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project premiered in 2000.

After Shepard’s murder made national headlines, members of the New York City-based Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and spent more than a year interviewing residents about how the brutal anti-gay hate crime affected the town. Those 200-plus interviews became the basis for the documentary play.

“The Laramie Project” premiered in 2000 in Denver and was performed in Laramie in 2002. It remains one of the most frequently performed plays in America, according to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the nonprofit that works "to ensure safety, visibility and inclusiveness for the entire LGBT community."

It was last performed in Green Bay in 2023 by Footlights Theatre at The Tarlton Theatre.

Audiences will hear a wide range of perspectives.

Among the townspeople interviewed and portrayed in the play are family members, clergy, police, defense and prosecuting attorneys, the two perpetrators, an emergency room doctor, ranchers and college students. There are themes of intolerance, hate, violence, hope and unity.

Many of the 10 student actors in the cast play multiple characters in the multimedia production, which supplements set pieces with the theatrics of audio, video and photos to tell the story.

There's a violent crime at its center, but its message is of hope and acceptance.

“When you take a look at the play itself, even though it deals with a very violent action, it is a play about hope. It is a play about how a community comes together to persevere and to learn from this experience. ... How this one incident transformed how they see each and how they see their world," Schuh said.

“I think for me, looking at the play, that was the most appealing part about it, was this ability to present a story about a tragedy but also there is a positive, hopeful outcome for a better tomorrow,” he said. “We have a lot in common and if we take a look at those commonalities, we as a community will be stronger for that.”

For one of the student actors, it's all about getting people to have open conversations.

Senior Liam Kempainen is both a student director and actor in the production. As a trans man active in the LGBTQ+ community, he is hopeful that “The Laramie Project” will get people talking. His introduction to the Shepard hate crime inspired him to research it and learn more.

“Instead of a hush topic, it’ll be more brought out, like this is a normal conversation starter,” Kempainen said. “‘Have you seen ‘The Laramie Project’? What do you think about it?’ kind of a thing, where it’s like, ‘Well, it’s really changed my mind on something’ or ‘Well, I can actually see their point of view as well.'"

The play has been both a challenge and a bonding experience for cast and crew.

Given the weight of the story, it has sometimes been challenging for students, many of whom are first-time performers, Schuh said. They’ve had many discussions about the script and what they each see in it. In March, director and actor David Daniel with American Players Theatre in Spring Green visited to talk with students about techniques and the responsibilities of portraying real people.

When preparations on the production began in February, there were students who didn’t know one another or only casually through classes. Schuh has seen them become a close-knit group in the weeks since.

“They rely upon one another. They help each other out. They talk to each other. They hang out with each other. They’ve bonded,” he said. “Out of the whole experience, I think that’s the most important thing, is that these students who eight weeks ago didn’t know each other have now become kind of like a family.”

Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Preble students to present 'The Laramie Project'