Overview
Synopsis
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. His body -- battered, bloody, barely clinging to life -- was discovered eighteen hours later. He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He died five days later. The reason for this brutal crime? Matthew Shepard was gay.
The hate crime attracted vast attention worldwide, bringing sexual discrimination and violence to the forefront of public discourse. 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 horrible, hate-fueled violence. Over the course of a year and a half, the group interviewed over 200 subjects, some directly related to the case and some regular citizens of Laramie. Out of these interviews, journal entries, and found texts, The Laramie Project was born. Hailed as one of the most captivating and encompassing pieces of contemporary theatre, the play shocks, challenges, and moves all who watch it as it reveals the lowest depths of hatred and greatest heights of compassion that lies within all human beings in any seemingly average community.
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Context
On the night of October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old college student, was beaten, tortured, and left to die on a fencepost near Laramie, Wyoming. He died six days later at the hospital.
Earlier in the evening of October 6, Shepard made the acquaintance of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson at The Fireside Bar in Laramie, who invited Shepard to drink and chat with them. Shortly after, the group decided that McKinney and Henderson would drive Shepard home. Instead, they drove
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NOTES ABOUT THE TEXT:
All characters in The Laramie Project are based on real individuals. Only those who requested anonymity remain nameless; all other characters are portrayals of their real life, historical counterpart.
The play is composed of diary entries, texts, and interviews conducted by members of the Tectonic Theater Project. Unless moments are specified as reenacted scenes, the text should be performed as if the speaker is the subject of an interview. Characters do not
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Supporting
Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in The Laramie Project.
Showing 8 of 32 portrayals
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Sarah Yeisley
- Barbara Pitts/Catherine Connelly/April Silva/Reporter #3/Narrator #7/Anonymous Friend of Aaron (2019)
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