Theater is an extraordinary thing. In every character, there is a background, a life, and a story. And acting is what makes it come alive. I was part of the play David and Lisa, and The Laramie Project. Both plays had a similar theme: getting the wrong impression.

I was honored to be a part of the play David and Lisa, a story of David, who is challenged by obsessive compulsive disorder and a fear of being touched, and Lisa, an orphaned girl with two personalities. David meets Lisa at a residential treatment center. Lisa has been there for a number of years and her condition has not improved. The plot follows David and his increasing understanding of Lisa, and how they overcome both their obstacles together

There were a wide variety of characters, ranging from overweight insecure Sandra and bitter, dark Josette. They were a very diverse bunch.
I played Kate, a narcissist girl who was convinced that everyone loved her, including David. She was oblivious to everyone and everything.

This role terrified me. I was convinced that I was nothing like this person, and I struggled every time I tried to portray her.

It’s frightening. Because you don’t always understand the characters, what they think, and why they would do the things they do. And if I couldn’t understand them, I couldn’t portray them in the way that they were meant to be portrayed.

It was difficult for me to play someone who was so different because it wasn’t familiar territory. I had no experience with anyone like Kate.

But as time went on, I started to wonder about Kate. Why did she think everyone loved her? Why did she obsess about her appearance? Was there a reason?

Then I realized I wasn’t different from her. Kate just wanted to feel loved, and I just wanted to be liked. I was like her.

And if I could relate to Kate, could I relate to David? Lisa? What about everyone else? There is a little David and Lisa and Sandra and Kate and Josette in everyone. Could we see the similarities?

I believe that David and Lisa’s characters were based off a little of part of each of us, and our struggle to be understood.

We ARE like THIS.

I played a variety of characters in a play called The Laramie Project. This play was about the 1996 murder of Matthew Shepherd, who lived in Laramie, Wyoming. He was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die because two men didn’t like that he was gay. The result was that he was killed.

Moises Kaufman, a playwright from New York City, and his team of writers went to Laramie, and conducted interviews with the people of the town. Most of the dialogue used in the play was from the interviews, much of it was verbatim. And what the citizens of Laramie had to say was shocking. And brutally honest. The first time I read the script, I thought that it was a tragic death, but many people thought the opposite. They accepted the fact that this happened there.

The citizens of Laramie all had different opinions of the victim. But most fell into these three categories:

1. Didn’t deserve to die, 2. It was his fault, and 3. WHY does it matter that this one person died?

It amazed me that there were so many ways to look at this death. I see this as a tragedy. But a policeman’s wife in Laramie, who saw people die daily, didn’t think that Matthew was of any particular significance. A lesbian in Wyoming saw this as reason to go into hiding. A teacher at the college in Laramie decided to do a production of Angels in America, which had homosexuality as a theme.

And the one line that I remember from that play is "We Are like THIS."

There were many responses to his death, both positive and negative. But this story helped the country start a new beginning where we attempt to have a functional understanding and respect of everyone. I believe that there is a difference. Understanding the differences between people means you acknowledge and are familiar with the differences. But respecting is appreciating the things that make us different from and similar to one another. And recently, the United States got a chance to do both.

Homosexual people did not have protection under hate crime laws. Hate crimes in 1996 were crimes committed on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or gender of any person. Matthew Shepherd’s murderers were not charged with hate crime laws in 1996 because there weren’t any that protected Matthew.  On October 28th, 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepherd Act. That law now protects victims of hate crimes who were attacked because of their perceived sexual orientation, gender, and disability. This law is one good thing that came out of that tragedy.

And good things can come out of tragedies. There are problems in our world now that can use the same spirit we had when Matthew Shepherd died. He is a sign that says bad things don’t have to be all bad.

But are we able to pay the price each time? Matthew Shepherd had to die for the Matthew Shepherd Act to pass. Does the world need another Matthew Shepherd each time we have controversy, or are we able to solve our problems without a terrible consequence?   I search for these answers every waking moment I have.

Drama reflects humanity. We can learn a lot about ourselves if we take part in a production, whether acting or watching.

I was in those plays because I wanted to make a difference. And if the audience went home with just a little more insight of the world around them, then I did my job.