The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman
Advanced Directing Production
In October 1998 in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, was tied to a fence post, severely beaten, robbed, tortured, and left alone to die. He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support and died five days later. The reason for this brutal crime? Matthew Shepard was gay.
The Tectonic Theater Project, led by their founder Moisés Kaufman, traveled to Laramie in the aftermath of the murder with the intent of creating a theatrical portrait of a town coming to grips with hate-fueled violence. Out of the interviews that were conducted, journal entries, and found texts, The Laramie Project was born.