Keller superintendent reverses decision to cancel ‘Laramie Project’ play at Timber Creek High
Keller Timber Creek students who spent months preparing to perform “The Laramie Project” got welcome news when the superintendent reversed a decision to cancel the performance.
Parents from Timber Creek High School received an email Wednesday from superintendent Tracy Johnson stating that the district will allow the students to perform an adapted version of the play, which examines reactions to the murder of a gay college student.
The district had canceled the performance in February without explanation. It did not elaborate why the decision was reversed.
“Keller ISD’s administration recognizes the time and effort that has been put into the adapted version of The Laramie Project by students and staff members,” Johnson said in the emailed statement.
“Upon further consideration of this, the administration has decided to proceed as previously planned with the May performance of The Laramie Project.”
A petition on change.org garnered 4,050 signatures calling for the district to reinstate “The Laramie Project.”
Last week, students, parents and teachers crowded into the school board meeting and questioned the district’s decision to cancel the performance.
Mandy Mixon, president of the Falcon Theater Boosters, said she was glad the district decided to let the students perform. But she described the past two weeks as a “whirlwind.”
Her daughter, a junior, is performing in the play.
“We were shocked that the decision was made because it was approved in the fall,” she said.
She added that her daughter was concerned about her friends in the LGBTQ community and how the decision affected them.
Now that the students will start rehearsing after spring break, Mixon said the students are looking forward to performing in May.
“We are really excited for our kids to come together and perform. It is a beautiful thing for our community,” Mixon said.
“The Laramie Project,” originally produced by the Tectonic Theater Project in New York City, delves into reactions of people in Laramie, Wyoming, following the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten and murdered. His murder was later classified as a hate crime.
