In 1998, Matthew Shapard, a
homosexual male was tortured,
murdered and left dead Christ
like on a barbwire fence.
Was he placed there carelessly
or as a warning to others with
Mr. Shapard’s sexual orientation?
|
by Joseph Bolden A Death, a town, one Play. Last week at the end of May on Berkeley’s K P F A’s It is thrilling and nerve racking simultaneously. But the first time blowing my own horn or Here’s my second commercial [money can be made by doing this, right?] Umm, a large part of it is from an email addressed The Laramie Project WRITTEN BY MOISES KAUFMAN AND THE TECTONIC THEATER COMPANY. Moises and company traveled to Laramie to interview the townspeople and see if there was a deeper story there. After more than 200 interviews they came up a truly in-depth look at a town and their reactions to Shepard's death. This is not the story of the killing, nor of Shepard - although clearly he is there throughout the story. It is a look at a small t This part of the email I received near the end of May. Date:Sun, 27 May 2001. To:(Help Bay Area LGBT Families) Hi Friends, OUR FAMILY STILL HAS MORE TICKETS TO THE BENEFIT PERFORMANCES OF THE LARAMIE PROJECT AT BERKELEY REP'S LOVELY NEW THEATER. We will have to return unsold tickets to Berkeley Rep soon, so please help us sell out the shows and raise badly needed funding to help keep Our Family's programs THE LARAMIE PROJECT, HAS PLAYED TO SOLD-OUT AUDIENCES IN NEW. YORK, LARAMIE AND DENVER, MAKES IT WEST COAST DEBUT HERE. A few weeks after the murder of Matthew Shepard, Moises and PLEASE JOIN OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR THIS EVENT The proceeds from this afternoon and evening will go toward hiring some permanent staff coordinators to make sure OF can keep up it's programming and continue to provide quality **THIS IS OUR FIRST ATTEMPT AT RAISING MONEY AND WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please call some friends and colleagues and encourage them to come. We have arranged ticket prices the best we could so that this should be affordable for many folks. It is a theater event, however, and good theater is not cheap. We did the best we could to provide pricing at all REMEMBER ALSO, THAT THE AMOUNT YOU PAY OVER THE MARKET PRICES OF THE TICKETS IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE. Our sister organization and main collaborator, All Our Families Coalition, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS! CALL 510-540-7784 to buy tickets. Call 510-540-7774 for more information. SATURDAY JUNE, 9, 2001 FOR 2 SHOWS Performance Times/Ticket Prices: Matinee at 2PM:$50, $75*, $125* and $250**Evening at 8PM:$75, $125and $250 * Wine and hors d'oeuvres reception after matinee performance and before evening performance at 6:30PM, both held in the ** Reception PLUS Dinner (which begins at 6PM and will be a Berkeley culinary masterpiece!) and donor recognition in our newsletter and web page. Dinner will be catered in the new major donor room at the new theater. It's a beautiful location and our caterer is the best in town. If you can afford it, this is a great way to enjoy a relaxed evening of culinary artistry and first-rate theater! And I forgot to mention, it's a great way to support Our Family! PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW BY CALLING OR EMAILING: 510-540-7784 or laramie@ourfamily.org. Leave the following information: 1) Name as it appears on your credit card (VISA or Mastercard) Your credit card will be neededfor id and your signature will be required. If you need any further info, please emailLARAMIE@OURFAMILY.ORG. Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard and to all of you who have helped by buying tickets. We look forward to seeing you and your friends on June 9th. That's it.. Now my column’s a commercial space. We as a society, culture, global, racial, species have not matured. As long as we make alien's out of our own human species we will not reach the zenith of our human potential. SEE THE PLAY, DONATE, AND ENJOY THE FOOD FOLKS. Hi, Laramien(s) I'm the Ask Joe guy again. I might be able to afford the one ticket maybe two. However as to the rest, all I can do is pass on some kind words. OH, I may forget I've heard the town of Laramie is slighly ill-at-ease... Their town will be in a spotlight and would rather all the fuss go away. But Mr. M.Shepard, a young citizen's who's life is taken from him for his As long as certain 'Hetero's have psychological problems with it. To kill is no solution but a symptom of a killer,(s) heterosexual's extreme insecure unease of their own orientation. Berkelely use to me my home years ago, I'd be nice to visit for this controversial play about an American's Town's private P.S. Money Orders is how I pay then cash in evelope or donation bucket, jars, or baskets (Its a church-give thing) Hope this gets to you in time, I'm not good at email; I do pray you get this letter in time so I can learn from the play and with limited funds, give more than a buck or two. Thank You for sending me an email. May the people of Laramie Heal quickly. Joseph Bolden/Staff Writer. for Poor Magazine. Please send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco,CA. 94103 USA For Joe only my snail mail: PO Box 1230 #645 |