The Laramie Project
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| The Laramie Project | |
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 Cover of the published text |
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| Written by | Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project |
| Characters | Residents of Laramie and members of the Tectonic Theater Project |
| Date premiered | February, 2000 |
| Place premiered | Ricketson Theatre, Denver |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | Homophobia, violence |
| Genre | Documentary theatre |
| Setting | Laramie, Wyoming |
The Laramie Project is a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder is widely considered to be a hate crime motivated by homophobia.[1]
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.
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[edit] Performances
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The Laramie Project premiered at The Ricketson Theatre by the Denver Center Theatre Company (Denver) (part of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts) in February 2000 and was then performed in the Union Square Theater in New York City before a November 2002 performance in Laramie, Wyoming. The play has since been performed by a number of schools and colleges, as well as by 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 representatives of Fred Phelps, who are portrayed in the play picketing Matthew Shepard's funeral as they did in real life. Though the play has been produced worldwide, it still generates controversy.
Productions involving high school students have generated controversy.[2]
The current holder of the royalties/rights to the play is Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
[edit] Actors
Famous actors/actresses who have performed in The Laramie Project include:
Jenna Ushkowitz (Fox's Glee)
Christina Ricci (The Addams Family, Monster)
Laura Linney (Love Actually)
Peter Fonda (The Wild Angels)
Camryn Manheim (The Practice)
Clea DuVall (21 Grams)
Frances Sternhagen (The Closer)
[edit] 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 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's Rainbow Resource Center. Today, that campus office houses one of the largest LGBT libraries in the state of Wyoming.
[edit] Film
As a result of the play's success, HBO commissioned a 2002 film of The Laramie Project, also written and directed by Kaufman.
[edit] Return to Laramie
Ten years after Shepard's murder, members of the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie to conduct follow-up interviews with residents featured in the play. Those interviews were turned into 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, most whose opening was linked by webcam to the New York City where the play's producers and writers gave an opening speech, followed by an address by Glenn Close. [3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Murder charges planned in beating death of gay student". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/US/9810/12/wyoming.attack.03/index.html. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ http://thefastertimes.com/theatertalk/2009/11/12/this-las-vegas-judge-rules/ | A report about the parents who tried to block a production of The Laramie Project in Las Vegas in 2009.
- ^ Remembering a Cruel Murder: Laramie Revisited
[edit] External links
- The Tectonic Theater Project's website
- Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
- The University of Wyoming Rainbow Resource Center
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