''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 play by
Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 National ...
and members of the
Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director;
Stephen Belber
Stephen Belber (born March 3, 1967) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. His plays have been produced on Broadway and in over 50 countries. He directed the film adaptation of his Broadway play, ''Match'', starring Patric ...
, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sara Lambert, John McAdams, Maude Mitchell,
Andy Paris
Andy Paris is an actor and a writer.
Early life
Paris is from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he graduated from The Seven Hills School in 1989. Note: Access to this page is restricted without a Seven Hills School member account (i.e. be a student, alumn ...
, and Kelli Simpkins) about the reaction to the 1998 murder of
gay University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
student
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Pou ...
in
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeastern ...
. The murder was denounced as a
hate crime
A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
.
An example of
verbatim theatre
Documentary theatre is theatre that uses pre-existing documentary material (such as newspapers, government reports, interviews, journals, and correspondences) as source material for stories about real events and people, frequently without altering ...
, the play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries, and published news reports. It is divided into three acts, and eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes.
Performances
''The Laramie Project'' premiered at The Ricketson Theatre by the Denver Center Theatre Company (Denver) (part of the
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, acting classes for the communi ...
) in February 2000. It was next performed in the
Union Square Theatre
Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.(8 October 1921)Two landmarks to ...
in New York City before a November 2002 performance in Laramie, Wyoming. The play has also been performed by high schools, colleges, and community theaters across the country. It has been produced at professional playhouses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Many of the performances in the United States have been picketed by followers of
Fred Phelps from the
Westboro Baptist Church. They are portrayed in the play picketing Matthew Shepard's funeral as they did in real life.
The play has been produced worldwide in the years since its premiere. But in 2009 it still generated controversy in Colorado and
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, where some parents tried to block a production.
The holder of the royalties/rights to ''The Laramie Project'' is Dramatists Play Service, Inc. The Matthew Shepard Foundation provides help and resources for those wishing to produce ''The Laramie Project'' or ''The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later''. The Foundation's Laramie Project Specialist can help with media, historical context, creative consulting, and other resources and services at no charge to non-profit theatres and educational and religious institutions. The Foundation can also help those who wish to engage their communities in a conversation about how to erase hate in the world.
Actors
Notable actors/actresses who have performed in ''The Laramie Project'' include
Van Hansis,
Mary Beth Peil,
Jenna Ushkowitz
Jenna Noelle Ushkowitz (; born April 28, 1986) (born Min Ji []) is a South Korean-born American actress, singer, producer and podcast host. She is known for her performances in Broadway musicals such as ''The King and I'' and '' Waitress (musical ...
,
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...
,
Joshua Jackson
Joshua Carter Jackson (born June 11, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is known for his starring role as Charlie Conway in '' Mighty Ducks'', as Pacey Witter in The WB teen drama series ''Dawson's Creek'' (1998–2003), Peter Bishop in the ...
,
Stephanie March,
Peter Hermann,
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He was the son of Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget Fonda. He was a prominent figure in the counterculture of the 1960s. Fond ...
,
Camryn Manheim,
Daniel de Weldon,
Cyndi Lauper,
Clea DuVall,
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci predominantly works in independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box office hits. She has receiv ...
,
Judith Light,
Terry Kinney
Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as E ...
,
Frances Sternhagen,
Brian Kerwin,
Robert Desiderio,
Chad Allen,
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series ''The West Wing'' ( ...
,
Darren Criss,
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. He has received various accolades, including a Tony Award, a BAFTA TV Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. ''Time'' ...
,
Amy Madigan
Amy Marie Madigan (born September 11, 1950) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film '' Twice in a Lifetime''. Her other film credits include '' Love Child'' (1982), ''Places ...
.
Combating homophobia
''The Laramie Project'' is often used as a method to teach about prejudice and tolerance in
personal, social, and health education and citizenship in schools, and it has also been used in the UK as a
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
text for English literature.
The play has also inspired grassroots efforts to combat homophobia. After seeing the play, New Jersey resident Dean Walton was inspired to donate more than 500 books and other media to the
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
's Rainbow Resource Center. Today, that campus office houses the largest
LGBTQ library in the state of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
.
Film
As a result of the play's success,
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
commissioned a 2002 film of ''
The Laramie Project'', also written and directed by Kaufman.
Return to Laramie
Ten years after Shepard's murder, members of Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie to conduct follow-up interviews with residents featured in the play. Those interviews were the basis of a companion piece, entitled ''The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later''. The play debuted as a reading at nearly 150 theatres across the US and internationally on October 12, 2009 – the 11th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. Many of the openings were linked by
webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral d ...
to New York City, where Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, and the play's producers and writers gave an opening speech, followed by an address by actress
Glenn Close
Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
.
Daniel DeWeldon
Daniel de Weldon is an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. de Weldon is a native of Washington, D.C. and Newport, Rhode Island. He is the son of sculptor Felix de Weldon, known for the Marine Corps War Memorial statue of the fl ...
played Aaron McKinney opposite
Barbara Bain
Barbara Bain (born Mildred Fogel; September 13, 1931) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Cinnamon Carter on the action television series '' Mission: Impossible'' (1966–1969), which earned her three Primetime Emmy Awar ...
in the Los Angeles production at Grand Performances, directed by Michael Arabian.
''The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later'' was presented for the first time in rep with ''The Laramie Project'' at the
BAM Harvey Theater from February 12–24, 2013 as part of an event titled ''The Laramie Project Cycle''. Directed by Kaufman and Leigh Fondakowski, the production featured much of the original cast reprising their roles.
See also
*
Violence against LGBT people
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people frequently experience violence directed toward their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws prescribing punishment for hom ...
*
Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and adv ...
*
Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard
Cultural depictions of Matthew Shepard include notable films, musical works, novels, plays, and other works inspired by the 1998 Matthew Shepard murder, investigation, and resulting interest the case brought to the topic of hate crime. The best k ...
References
External links
*
The Tectonic Theater Project's websiteDramatists Play Service, Inc.The University of Wyoming Rainbow Resource CenterInterview with Leigh Fondakowski by Peter SheaLaramie Project Support through the Matthew Shepard Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laramie Project, The
2000 plays
Docudrama plays
LGBT-related plays
Works about Matthew Shepard
Plays based on actual events
Plays by Moisés Kaufman
Plays by Stephen Belber
Plays set in the 1990s
Plays set in Wyoming
Stonewall Book Award-winning works
2000s LGBT literature