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The Laramie Project
Moises Kaufman
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
by Stephen Belber, Moises Kaufman, Andy Paris, Greg Pierotti, Leigh Fondakowski
Off-Broadway
Highlights
120 mins Present Day Ensemble Cast Expandable Casting Flexible Cast Size Unit Set/Multiple Settings Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes
Synopsis
On October 6, 1998, gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson.
The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death.
Six days later, Matthew Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft.
Collins, Colorado.
On November 14th, 1998, ten members of Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming and conducted interviews with the people of the town.
Over the next year, the company returned to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews.
These texts became the basis for the play The Laramie Project .
Ten years later on September 12th, 2008, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the murder.
They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history.
In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted us in the original play, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard.
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is a bold new work, which asks the question: How does society write its own history?
Press Reviews
"Engaging and accessible... The sensitivity of the Tectonic Theatre Project members and their care and attention crafting a strong, warts-and-all narrative of the Laramie community and their reactions to Shepard’s death and the progress (or lack thereof) in the world ten years on ends up as a most effective means to hold the mirror up to this microcosm."
— DC Theatre Scene
"A dynamic portrait of a small town coping with a horrible incident."
— SFGate
Characters
| Character |
|---|
| Greg Pierotti Member, Tectonic Theater Project; early forties. |
| Beth Loffreda Professor, University of Wyoming; author of the book Losing Matt Shepard; early forties. |
| Moisés Kaufman Artistic Director, Tectonic Theater Project; early forties. |
| Stephen Belber Member, Tectonic Theater Project; early forties. |
| Leigh Fondakowski Member, Tectonic Theater Project; late thirties. |
| Matt Mickelson Former owner of the Fireside Bar; forties. |
| Marge Murray Mother of police officer Reggie Fluty; late sixties. |
| Jeffrey Lockwood Laramie resident; fifties. |
| Jedadiah Shultz Laramie native; University of Wyoming theater student now living in NYC; early thirties. |
| Rebecca Hilliker Theater professor, University of Wyoming; fifties. |
| Zackie Salmon Laramie resident, originally from Texas; advocate for domestic partner benefits on campus; fifties. |
| Andy Paris Member, Tectonic Theater Project; late thirties. |
| Cowboy Laconic man on the street; late forties. |
| Rental Car Agent Retired military; early seventies. |
| Reggie Fluty Police officer who found Matthew Shepard at the fence; retired; late forties. |
| Jonas Slonaker Openly gay Laramie resident; late forties. |
| Deb Thomsen Editor of the Laramie Boomerang, local Laramie newspaper; early fifties. |
| Governor Freudenthal Governor of Wyoming; fifties. |
| Dave O’Malley Retired Laramie police officer, lead investigator on the Matthew Shepard case for Laramie Police Department; early fifties. |
| Catherine Connolly Out lesbian professor, University of Wyoming; member of the Wyoming Legislature; fifties. |
| Rob Debree Lead investigator on the Matthew Shepard case for the Albany County Sheriff’s Department; early fifties. |
| Jim Osborne Friend of Matthew Shepard; Laramie resident; mid-thirties. |
| Friend #1 Friend of Jim Osborne; early thirties. |
| Grandma Grandmother of Friend #1; late seventies. |
| Mom A Laramie housewife; early forties. |
+ 31 more characters
Videos
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later – Tectonic Theater Project Featurette
Publication
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is a play written by Stephen Belber and published by Dramatists Play Service .
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Performance Rights
Available for Licensing
Amateur & Professional
Fee: Minimum Fee: $130 per performance
Restrictions: Major Markets Plus (US) / Standard Plus Add'l Postcodes (UK)
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