The Laramie Project
On November 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?"Moisés Kaufman is a Tony and Emmy nominated director and playwright. His play 33 VARIATIONS, starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for five Tony awards (including one for Ms. Fonda). Previous to that, Mr. Kaufman directed the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play I AM MY OWN WIFE, earning him an Obie award for his direction as well as Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel nominations. His plays GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE and THE LARAMIE PROJECT have been among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. Mr. Kaufman also directed the film adaptation of THE LARAMIE PROJECT for HBO, which was the opening night selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won the National Board of Review Award, the Humanitas Prize, and a Special Mention for Best First Film at the Berlin Film Festival. The film also earned Mr. Kaufman two Emmy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writer. He is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project and a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting. Other credits include BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Mark Taper Forum); MACBETH with Liev Schreiber (Public Theater); THIS IS HOW IT GOES (Donmar Warehouse); ONE ARM by Tennessee Williams (Steppenwolf Theater Company); MASTER CLASS with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theater); and LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN (Williamstown Theater Festival).
