“The Laramie Project”
February 11, 2010
A theatrical experience by Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic
Theatre Project, “The Laramie Project” is the result of more than 200 interviews
with the people of Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of the October 1998 beating
death of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year old student at the University of Wyoming.
Shepard was the victim of this assault because he was gay.
Twenty-four students and 18 faculty, many working in
sections of advance theater class, presented the performance on the evening of
February 11, 2010, as a precursor and “kick-off” to the next day’s Upper School
“Community in Action Day.”
Comprising the narrative are monologues and interviews —
first-person voices of the people of Laramie. Members of Packer’s Upper School
advanced drama class memorized their parts, while volunteer participants
presented their parts in the style of a dramatic reading.
Said creator Moises Kaufamn of the inspiration for the
project: “In the immediate aftermath of this crime, the nation launched into a
dialogue that brought to the surface how we think and talk about homosexuality,
sexual politics, education, class, violence, privileges and rights, and the
difference between tolerance and acceptance…”
