The Ottawa theatre community is coming together with other community leaders and activists to push back against the rise in anti-2SLGBTQ+ hate with a staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.
Originally written by a theatre company in New York City, The Laramie Project is a play that speaks to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard—a student from the University of Wyoming who was attacked in an anti-gay motivated hate crime.
In 2009, the same theatre company created The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later as a staged reading, which was performed around the world. The Ottawa theatre community also participated, with playwright Lawrence Aronovitch producing a performance that took place at the Arts Court Theatre.
Now in 2023, Aronovitch and others in the performing arts community are organizing another staged reading of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, directed by Mary Ellis, at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre.
Aronovitch sat down with Apt613 to talk more about the decision to put on another staged reading, and the role that community members play in rising up against hate.
Poster for The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. Image provided.
Aronovitch began as a playwright about 20 years ago, pivoting from his previous career in a space program.
“I like to say that really, they’re both the same kind of activity—they’re both about exploring the universe,” he says. “One might be looking at moon rocks and the other is looking at the human condition. I’ve touched on a bit of both of those kinds of exploration questions in many of the plays that I’ve written over the years.”
Of the 2009 staged reading, Aronovitch says it was meant to speak out against hate within marginalized communities, but 15 years later, the same sentiments persist.
“It was a way of showcasing the issues surrounding the subject of the play—homophobia, violence against gay men in this particular instance, but more broadly, hate crimes against any kind of minority, really,” he says. “Well, here we are 15 years later, a quarter of a century since the murder of Matthew Shepard, and in many ways the world has changed for the better, but in many ways it hasn’t.”
However, Aronovitch says this performance was also inspired by the group of people who helped construct The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later in 2009.
“Some of the people who were involved in the 2009 edition of this staged reading had some photos pop up as Facebook memories, so they were commemorating that,” he says. “But here we are in 2023, and this kind of stuff is still happening. So maybe we need to do it again.”
he past year has seen a rise in anti-2SLGBTQ+ legislation and rallies across Canada, including the most recent “1 Million March 4 Children” protest, which took place on Parliament Hill on Sept. 20.
Aronovitch also mentioned that he felt it was important to include community members and leaders as the stage readers, instead of theatre actors. This was a decision he made for both the 2009 performance and its 2023 remounting.
Some of the readers include Alex Munter, president and chief executive officer of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario; Ariel Troster, city councillor for Somerset Ward; and Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a family doctor who advocated extensively for community vaccine distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have people who are straight, people who are gay, people who are white, people who are non-white, people who are trans, people who are non-trans, and so forth,” he says of the list of readers. “I do think it is reflective of the many, many different colours of the rainbow on that flag.”
“For some individuals in our community, there’s sometimes a feeling of hopelessness, or despair or fear. And I would like to replace that with feelings of hope and empowerment.”
—Lawrence Aronovitch
After the staged reading, there will be a community conversation for interested members of the audience, facilitated by Fae Johnstone, who was the grand marshal at this year’s Capital Pride.
Aronovitch says although hateful sentiments seem to be more prevalent in our communities today, there is always still hope for change.
“I sense that for some individuals in our community, there’s sometimes a feeling of hopelessness, or despair or fear. And I would like to replace that with feelings of hope and empowerment,” he says.
Aronovitch says The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is a piece of art, but it is also a productive space, especially in relation to the conversation to be facilitated by Johnstone.
“There are things we have the capacity to do, and these are the kinds of things that will come out of the conversation that Fae leads. I would like [audiences] to leave thinking: ‘That was an inspiring piece of art; now I am motivated to go do X, Y or Z.'”
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later takes place at 7pm on Oct. 5 at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. The event is sponsored by Carleton University and Horseshoes & Hand Grenades Theatre. The event is free. Register here.
