Roy Gabay’s “The Laramie Project” takes on a larger-than-the-stage presence through UTSA Student Theater’s outdoor staging and swift, poignant line delivery. This ambitious production differs from past plays by UTSA Student Theater, which were straightforward stories with minimal costume design and cast size, such as “Twelve Angry Men” and “The Giver.”
“The Laramie Project” takes a meta approach in its delivery of the narrative: the actors interview community members of Laramie, Wyoming, and then act out the community’s stories. The play is based on the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay man, and the impact it had on the Laramie community.
For the play’s grand testimonials, UTSA Student Theater opted to perform outside on the H-E-B Student Union Lawn. The performances projected Kaiju-sized shadows, which conveyed the tragedy and the town’s confusion with its identity onto the side of the HSU.
Psychology major Mogbekeleoluwa Shebioba and business analytics major Larsen Harrell blend comedy with drama through slap-stick gestures and Shakespearean levels of line delivery.
Shebioba, for most of the runtime, acts as the taxi driver who dropped off Shepard at the bar he was last seen at; Shebioba also plays the bartender of that bar. At one point in the second act, Shebioba delivers a monologue as the cab driver. He then spins around and reappears with a towel upon his shoulder as the bartender. He smoothly transitions from one character to the next, as if possessed by the spirits of the story’s witnesses. However, Shebioba does not truly get to dabble in the drama until he takes on the role of Shepard’s father. His syllabic stresses underscore the contempt and pity his character has for Aaron McKinney, the murderer of his son. He pauses ever so slightly, staring off into the audience and pleading with them to share his burden. Shebioba’s range transforms the minimal set design into a bar, a cab and a prison cell. In the glistening of his pupils and the trembles of his voice, Shebioba transports the lives of Laramie citizens from 1998 to UT San Antonio’s HSU Lawn in 2026.
Harrell, on the other hand, has the difficult task of conveying drama through characters who hide tragedy under the guise of humor. Her heartbreaking portrayal of Laramie resident Marge Murray encapsulates the tragedy and redemption of the town; she delivers a nuanced performance that remains the most devoutly human of all the project’s characters. Murray is hesitant about the acting troupe; her internalized homophobia comes from a place of care for her daughter, yet her motherly instinct rejects people’s blaming of Shepard.
Harrell’s task in this one character, alone, requires a delicate dance of sympathy that must boil underneath the surface of fear and anger. She gracefully accomplishes her task through unbound facial expressions and tear-jerking chemistry with her co-star, Amanda Hopfe, who plays Reggie Fluty — Murray’s daughter. Throughout the play, Harrell’s comedic timing maintains the somber tone, ensuring that light-hearted, tender moments never distract from the severity and despair of the play’s central event.
With dazzling performances and a trust in the acting troupe’s range, UTSA Student Theater enthralls in their latest endeavour, “The Laramie Project.” An outside stage setting creates a change of pace that brings a level of intimacy to the production that beautifully portrays the tragedy and hope found in Laramie, Wyoming.
