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The Laramie Project
For a year and a half following the murder of Matthew Shepard, Moisés Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project–whose previous play, Gross Indecency, was hailed as a work of unsurpassed originality–conducted hundreds of interviews with the citizens of Laramie, Wyoming, to create this portrait of a town struggling with a horrific event.
The savage killing of Shepard, a young gay man, has become a national symbol of the struggle against intolerance. But for the people of Laramie–both the friends of Matthew and those who hated him without knowing him–the tragedy was personal. In a chorus of voices that brings to mind Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, The Laramie Project allows those most deeply affected to speak, and the result is a brilliantly moving theatrical creation.
The savage killing of Shepard, a young gay man, has become a national symbol of the struggle against intolerance. But for the people of Laramie–both the friends of Matthew and those who hated him without knowing him–the tragedy was personal. In a chorus of voices that brings to mind Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, The Laramie Project allows those most deeply affected to speak, and the result is a brilliantly moving theatrical creation.
110 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2001
About the author
Moisés Kaufman
15 books35 followersMoisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project. He is also the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and 33 Variations. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to New York City in 1987.
Kaufman is of Romanian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. He described himself in an interview by saying "I am Venezuelan, I am Jewish, I am gay, I live in New York. I am the sum of all my cultures. I couldn’t write anything that didn’t incorporate all that I am."
Kaufman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. He made his Broadway directing debut in the 2004 production of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
(from Wikipedia)
Kaufman is of Romanian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. He described himself in an interview by saying "I am Venezuelan, I am Jewish, I am gay, I live in New York. I am the sum of all my cultures. I couldn’t write anything that didn’t incorporate all that I am."
Kaufman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. He made his Broadway directing debut in the 2004 production of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 537 reviews
July 7, 2024
I am grateful I got to teach this wonderful, harrowing play that retraces the last days of Matthew Shepard’s young life cut short by a vicious hate crime that rocked Laramie, Wyoming- and the United States in 1998.
Told through a Greek chorus of denizens who reflect on the death of Mr. Shepard, the arrest of his murderers, and how he became a martyr for those pursuing the right to love- it’s almost written to be a documentary that documents- the good and the bad of what happened.
As a theater lover, the film version starring Ben Foster, Amy Madigan, Christina Ricci, Laura Linney and others was a hypnotic, beautiful interpretation of the drama that ensued. It was directed with sensitivity for HBO by Moises Kaufman.
I also saw The Laramie Project performed as an off Broadway play in 2017 that allowed me to teach this as a way to build empathy in the classroom. That was a slow burner of a powerful play.
Told through a Greek chorus of denizens who reflect on the death of Mr. Shepard, the arrest of his murderers, and how he became a martyr for those pursuing the right to love- it’s almost written to be a documentary that documents- the good and the bad of what happened.
As a theater lover, the film version starring Ben Foster, Amy Madigan, Christina Ricci, Laura Linney and others was a hypnotic, beautiful interpretation of the drama that ensued. It was directed with sensitivity for HBO by Moises Kaufman.
I also saw The Laramie Project performed as an off Broadway play in 2017 that allowed me to teach this as a way to build empathy in the classroom. That was a slow burner of a powerful play.
Read
May 1, 2016Polyphonic, Polyvalent Apostasy?
Written in moments instead of scenes, broken fragments, not of found poetry but of found voices curated to allow the townspeople to speak for themselves. In today's moment where hate groups proliferate and violence mounts, this work remains sadly relevant.
What this play says to me is that Small town America is big city America is rural America in one sense: The human animal strives for community, acceptance, love, calories, understanding, enthrallment in every context. But what's particular about this situation is that despite this being a city, most people know each other or are at most only one-degree of separation. And so, if it is true that much hate is borne from cognitive dissonance, an impersonal spacing, the fear of the Other, then you have to look at Laramie as interesting case study, where less fathomable explanations obtain. And grappling with these ideas, emotions and beliefs can be deeply troubling.
"What's come out of this that's concrete or lasting?" (99)
I remember when Matthew Shepard was killed. I was in high school. It was a news item. It entered my world briefly and receded just as fast. I remember hearing the criticism expressed in earnest near the end of the play about why this particular gruesome death would get so much coverage while many others went unrecognized. You still hear charges leveled about the bias reflected by the choice of which stories get a share of the blue light and which remain in the dark. So many arguments. So many points.
Another one of which is that humans are really only able to experience empathy on an individual scale.
On another day I will scrutinize and criticize mainstream media for dramatizing trivia and trivializing drama. But today, it's enough to say that sometimes important things come to light, if only briefly. And that sometimes people like Mr. Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project take that opportunity to ossify the moment. And so this play has coalesced as both tribute and meditation on how the world of phenomena impacts belief formation and so that perhaps, Mr. Shepard, you will not have died in vain.
-----
A quick note on why I did not star (though I reserve the right to go back and change that later): I could not read this with my normal aesthetic eye (though the prose was very thoughtfully curated) as the play is one that is less literary (though it does deconstruct its own form) and more political/social/historical.
But, to be clear, I think everyone should spend the hour or so it takes to read, as everyone can take something from it. I put off reading this for so long not because the subject matter was depressing. If I'm being honest, it was more likely that I thought it wouldn't tell me something I didn't already know. Going back as far as secondary school I have been concerned and involved with issues of social justice. I have long considered myself radically progressive and an LBGTQ ally. Nonetheless, I took quite a bit away from this experience, not the least of which was the philosophical meditation on apostasy.
"And I will speak with you, I will trust that if you write a play of this, that you say it right. You need to do your best to say it correct." (100)
Written in moments instead of scenes, broken fragments, not of found poetry but of found voices curated to allow the townspeople to speak for themselves. In today's moment where hate groups proliferate and violence mounts, this work remains sadly relevant.
What this play says to me is that Small town America is big city America is rural America in one sense: The human animal strives for community, acceptance, love, calories, understanding, enthrallment in every context. But what's particular about this situation is that despite this being a city, most people know each other or are at most only one-degree of separation. And so, if it is true that much hate is borne from cognitive dissonance, an impersonal spacing, the fear of the Other, then you have to look at Laramie as interesting case study, where less fathomable explanations obtain. And grappling with these ideas, emotions and beliefs can be deeply troubling.
"What's come out of this that's concrete or lasting?" (99)
I remember when Matthew Shepard was killed. I was in high school. It was a news item. It entered my world briefly and receded just as fast. I remember hearing the criticism expressed in earnest near the end of the play about why this particular gruesome death would get so much coverage while many others went unrecognized. You still hear charges leveled about the bias reflected by the choice of which stories get a share of the blue light and which remain in the dark. So many arguments. So many points.
Another one of which is that humans are really only able to experience empathy on an individual scale.
On another day I will scrutinize and criticize mainstream media for dramatizing trivia and trivializing drama. But today, it's enough to say that sometimes important things come to light, if only briefly. And that sometimes people like Mr. Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project take that opportunity to ossify the moment. And so this play has coalesced as both tribute and meditation on how the world of phenomena impacts belief formation and so that perhaps, Mr. Shepard, you will not have died in vain.
-----
A quick note on why I did not star (though I reserve the right to go back and change that later): I could not read this with my normal aesthetic eye (though the prose was very thoughtfully curated) as the play is one that is less literary (though it does deconstruct its own form) and more political/social/historical.
But, to be clear, I think everyone should spend the hour or so it takes to read, as everyone can take something from it. I put off reading this for so long not because the subject matter was depressing. If I'm being honest, it was more likely that I thought it wouldn't tell me something I didn't already know. Going back as far as secondary school I have been concerned and involved with issues of social justice. I have long considered myself radically progressive and an LBGTQ ally. Nonetheless, I took quite a bit away from this experience, not the least of which was the philosophical meditation on apostasy.
"And I will speak with you, I will trust that if you write a play of this, that you say it right. You need to do your best to say it correct." (100)
March 20, 2007
Every American should read or see this play. Period. And everyone else should read it too. It is a beautiful, sad, haunting funny biography of a town trying to cope with tragedy. The unsparing honesty of the words, which are taken directly from first-person interviews with real Laramie residents, takes this play out of the realm of Really Good Theatre into something even higher; it's a mirror through which we see ourselves.
I directed this play in Ireland in a town similar to Laramie, and similar to Walla Walla, Washington where I went to school . . . small, old-fashioned, conservative-ish towns with a big liberal college smack in the middle, creating all kinds of unavoidable tension. I was really pleased at the positive reception, which proved that you don't have to be a liberal Democrat American to find great resonance in the story.
Seriously. Everyone should read this play.
I directed this play in Ireland in a town similar to Laramie, and similar to Walla Walla, Washington where I went to school . . . small, old-fashioned, conservative-ish towns with a big liberal college smack in the middle, creating all kinds of unavoidable tension. I was really pleased at the positive reception, which proved that you don't have to be a liberal Democrat American to find great resonance in the story.
Seriously. Everyone should read this play.
February 15, 2017
A brilliant look at middle America in the wake of tragedy.
June 18, 2023
I often find myself taking notes on books while I read them. Although this is, of course, a paperback play, it, too became covered in my notes.
What I'll always remember is arguing - one sidedly and in the margins of this paperback - with a Laramie resident who complained about the level of coverage Matthew Shepard's death received relative to that of a Laramie law enforcement officer who lost his life around the same time.
"We lost one of ours," the woman - who is herself the wife of a Laramie highway patrol officer - said of the officer. This is an important point, as far as it goes. For the woman then suggested we shouldn't mourn Shepard because of his status as an HIV positive man.
"Matthew Shepard was one of yours, one of ours, too, ma'am," I wrote in my copy of the play. The ongoing struggle by LGBT people to be recognized as "ours" rests at the very core of this play.
It's not that the mainstream media portrayed Shepard as a saint, as the widow suggests, its that they portrayed him as a man who was lifeless even before his death, a perpetual victim lacking agency.
The big strength of this play is that it gives Matthew Shepard agency, life. We learn that his friends loved him, but we also learn they recognized he never gave an inch when it came to being present in their lives (in this regard, the story of a young Shepard staring holes into people until they left public places he frequented is instructive). We learn that Mr. Shepard was in college to work but also to party.
This is not to say that a personal edginess, a "wild side" killed Matthew Shepard; the thugs McKinney & Henderson did that. This is to say, rather, that Matthew Shepard was a human being in full. As the fight for equality continues, may we say the same of all our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters.
What I'll always remember is arguing - one sidedly and in the margins of this paperback - with a Laramie resident who complained about the level of coverage Matthew Shepard's death received relative to that of a Laramie law enforcement officer who lost his life around the same time.
"We lost one of ours," the woman - who is herself the wife of a Laramie highway patrol officer - said of the officer. This is an important point, as far as it goes. For the woman then suggested we shouldn't mourn Shepard because of his status as an HIV positive man.
"Matthew Shepard was one of yours, one of ours, too, ma'am," I wrote in my copy of the play. The ongoing struggle by LGBT people to be recognized as "ours" rests at the very core of this play.
It's not that the mainstream media portrayed Shepard as a saint, as the widow suggests, its that they portrayed him as a man who was lifeless even before his death, a perpetual victim lacking agency.
The big strength of this play is that it gives Matthew Shepard agency, life. We learn that his friends loved him, but we also learn they recognized he never gave an inch when it came to being present in their lives (in this regard, the story of a young Shepard staring holes into people until they left public places he frequented is instructive). We learn that Mr. Shepard was in college to work but also to party.
This is not to say that a personal edginess, a "wild side" killed Matthew Shepard; the thugs McKinney & Henderson did that. This is to say, rather, that Matthew Shepard was a human being in full. As the fight for equality continues, may we say the same of all our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender brothers and sisters.
July 7, 2017
Read this aloud with my drama class every day for 2 weeks. Incredible experience discussing the social politics of the play. We tried to emulate the style and structure of the play with a "project" of our own, focusing on our own school but shit got pear shaped quite quickly. The "project" for fear of what could happen if someone released our taped interviews and saved-transcripts of said interviews and used them for nefarious purposes.
July 1, 2021
2020 Read Harder Challenge: A play by an author of color and/or queer author. I didn't know how this topic -- the brutal killing of gay university student Matthew Shepard -- could be a play. I didn't know if I'd want to read it (I remember that time very well...1998). But I'm glad I did read it. My library copy was donated by Westerville's own Curtain Players.
This isn't like any other play I've read or heard of. Actors from the Tectonic Theater Project traveled to the scene of the crime and the surrounding town of Laramie, Wyoming, over the 18 months just after the murder. They interviewed residents, some directly connected to the case, and others not. They used this material to write the play in "moments" rather than scenes ("A 'moment' does not mean a change of locale, or an entrance or exit of actors or characters. It is simply a unit of theatrical time, which is then juxtaposed with other units to convey meaning."). The interviewees were aware that their words could be in a stage play (which makes what some of them revealed all the more astonishing). It's an interesting mix of investigation, reporting, and performance (which of course is interpretation, too). I'll be thinking about the bartender for a long time.
It felt like the ending came suddenly...perhaps given the amount of time that has passed, an additional epilogue could add more weight. But maybe it reads differently on stage. I would like to see it performed if I ever have the chance.
"Nothing less than an examination of the American psyche at the end of the millennium." --Associated Press
This isn't like any other play I've read or heard of. Actors from the Tectonic Theater Project traveled to the scene of the crime and the surrounding town of Laramie, Wyoming, over the 18 months just after the murder. They interviewed residents, some directly connected to the case, and others not. They used this material to write the play in "moments" rather than scenes ("A 'moment' does not mean a change of locale, or an entrance or exit of actors or characters. It is simply a unit of theatrical time, which is then juxtaposed with other units to convey meaning."). The interviewees were aware that their words could be in a stage play (which makes what some of them revealed all the more astonishing). It's an interesting mix of investigation, reporting, and performance (which of course is interpretation, too). I'll be thinking about the bartender for a long time.
It felt like the ending came suddenly...perhaps given the amount of time that has passed, an additional epilogue could add more weight. But maybe it reads differently on stage. I would like to see it performed if I ever have the chance.
"Nothing less than an examination of the American psyche at the end of the millennium." --Associated Press
November 5, 2014
It's passed midnight and I have been reading this play all night. Just finished it. There are two plays in the version we have actually-- the original and The Laramie Project- Ten Years Later- Both were gripping.
This is a crucial play for any one interested in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Trans-Gendered)rights. It begs us to question our understanding of tolerance and acceptance. While some of the language and content is course and mature for middle school readers, the main themes of dealing with homophobia and equality in society are valuable lessons for readers of all ages.
The way this story is told is groundbreaking, I only hope i have a chance to see this play performed. It was here in Singapore in July and I can't believe I missed it. But even without the live performance th play reads clearly and is quite provocative.
For confident and mature readers for sure, but an important and harrowing experience
This is a crucial play for any one interested in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Trans-Gendered)rights. It begs us to question our understanding of tolerance and acceptance. While some of the language and content is course and mature for middle school readers, the main themes of dealing with homophobia and equality in society are valuable lessons for readers of all ages.
The way this story is told is groundbreaking, I only hope i have a chance to see this play performed. It was here in Singapore in July and I can't believe I missed it. But even without the live performance th play reads clearly and is quite provocative.
For confident and mature readers for sure, but an important and harrowing experience
May 1, 2016
Thought-provoking.
Review to follow later.
Review to follow later.
May 2, 2016
it met its intentions. however, I do not necessarily agree with its intentions. resolution was too thin for my taste.
January 13, 2022
The play’s disorganised nature made it a little difficult to go into depth in all the areas covered in the play - with the main focus being both a sensitive and controversial topic - but I think that this helped to emphasise the more significant points of the story. I finished this in one day, which goes to show that it's a relatively quick read, but that does in no way imply that the contents of this book are easy to go through. The way everything in the play feels so raw really helped me to grasp the harsh reality and severity of a hate crime, and the fact that this isn't a lone incident - it happens everywhere. I definitely wasn't sure about how the event (which I researched a bit beforehand) would be able to be turned into a play, but the way it describes and reflects on Wyoming, as well as the U.S. as a whole, and the people's response to Shepard's death and all the different reactions was done as well as it could be, with so much content to cover. The thing that stood out to me about this play in particular was the way it showed the differences, however minute, between those who accepted people in the LGBTQIA+ community, and those who simply tolerated it. Most people aren't able to truly grasp the difference, and how much a person's perspective can change according to whether they accept or tolerate Shepard's 'lifestyle'. Hate crimes are still a relevant and real thing that happen in today's world, despite all the advocacy that came from a story like this one, and I think that this play could educate a lot of people.
September 15, 2021
Seems there is no end to man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. I remember reading about this when it happened and everyone I encountered, that had read about it, or had seen the report on TV news…speechless and horrified. The book is a quick read and very well presented. I read a lot of horror and graphic murder books but this one was so much worse because it was real. One thing that impressed me about it was that the author didn’t take sides, thus leaving the reader to make up their own mind…but I can’t image even the most staunchly homophobic individual not finding something terribly wrong or being able to make a case to justify what happened here. Just a side note…this is also on DVD.
January 4, 2023
Very heartbreaking, but so important. I was reading Matthew's dad's victim impact statement aloud to the class and I got choked up. It was embarrassing, but I feel like some of my classmates were right there with me because it was just so emotional.
October 12, 2019
Using this as a review of both this edition as well as this.
My secret hope was that they were from somewhere else that then of course you can create that distance: We don't grow children like that here. Well it's pretty clear that we do grow children like that here...Some years back, I watched Southern Baptist agitators being blocked by people wearing huge spans of wings. The wings were something unexpected that I didn't know the origin of, and when the news became distracted by the next cycle of evil, as it usually does, the image joined the host that floods the reservoirs of my familiarity, not to be recalled until I was a third done with this work here. It was an unsettling feeling, on the scale of that that leads to the feeling of a goose walking over one's grave, and more than twenty years after Matthew Shephard was found lashed to a fence, head caved in and breath regularly stuttering to a stop, where have we come since then? In the age of talking watches and global warming, if another white gay boy was murdered in a country town, what would we win, what would we lose, and how much would we let the system cannibalize the narrative until what remains becomes of the most use to the Powers That Be? Whatever happens, I do plan on watching the play: it's one that demands to be heard.
I've learned so much about people—what they choose to believe if it makes them feel better. How they have to interpret things to make their own being better, to fit their own image of themselves.
My parents were like, So what plays are you doing this year at school. And I was like, Angels in America....[a]nd we got into this huge argument...and my best, the best thing that I knew I had them on is it was just after they had seen me in a performance of Macbeth and onstage like I murdered like a little kid, and Lady Macduff and these two other guys and like and she goes well, you know homosexuality is a sin—she kept saying that—and I go, Mom, I just played a murderer tonight. And you didn't seem to have a problem with that...This work, unlike most things that have assumed the title of such, is truly the record of a nation. I may be susceptible to the chosen Tectonic style due to my previous awe inspiring experience with Svetlana Alexievich (remember the days when we had hope for the Nobel Prize for Lit?), but I can still objectively gauge the worth of this piece, especially when the initial impetus of play is combined with its decade in the making successor. As is often the case when I'm looking for a work and end up acquiring it in a bundle with another, I almost liked the not pursued work more, as it fell more into my own line of thinking: asserting human dignity is a hard, long, and largely thankless, and there are endless of arrangements of traps, lies, and bad faith to counter before there is even a glimmer of hope to be found. Much as it did in the nomination of Sotomayor for the Supreme Court, it took the election of Obama to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law, and while I will acknowledge that that doesn't wash the blood off that president's, and indeed the collective US presidency's, hands, it does make one think of butterflies into tornadoes, and tornadoes into butterflies. Do we still have those kinds of people pushing for a decade on for some kind of recognition that, as long as gay/trans panic laws, explicitly and otherwise, allow murder to be defined as necessary extermination, there will be a need for laws to tell the bigots that they are now the ones with the targets on their backs? It's merely one law in one government in one country, and I haven't even checked whether it's been torn down by 45, but it's proof of what's possible, if nothing else.
They want to write this murder off. And a big part of how people do that is 20/20.Where I do I go from here, I wonder. It took me almost a decade to read this, and I feel, unlike with other works, it would have made a significant mark on me whether I had gone out and purchased and subsequently immediately imbibed it way back in 2011, or even had read it when I acquired it a year ago through the luck of the book sale. My collection of queer lit, fiction and non, on hand is not as robust as I would like it to be, and my focusing on it this month does spawn my typical paranoia about possibly reaching for something in the future and finding nothing within my grasp. Matthew Shepard is dead, but I doubt he'll ever be gone, and what humanity owes to him is some constantly demonstrated proof that they bore witness and set in stone a marker of, never again. We have the Trevor Project now, but I value far more the living queer people that I can check in on every once in a while and make sure that they're still going. Seeing if they're truly alright would set myself up more for disappointment, but that's also something I'm working on, macro as well as micro, and this play is a valuable addition to my anti-bigotry toolkit.
You had a major, respected news source who came up with this set of stories that said, "Okay, it wasn't really about the fact that he was gay, it was really about this.
[...]
PBS did a nice rebuttal, they went point by point through the entire thing pointing out the false statements, the leading questions, the quotes taken out of context...but how many people watch PBS and how many people watch 20/20.
But here kids—and adults too—were leaving Laramie, and that fear, that's when I started realizing—I mean that's...that's terroristic.
NO, the crime certainly does not define Laramie. How we react to the crime, how we talk about it, and if we do or don't do anything to prevent this from happening again does define Laramie.
May 20, 2023
It feels wrong to give this 5 stars, simply due to the gruesome background and topic of the play. However, it was made brilliantly, providing such a rich diversity of perspectives of one of the most significant crimes in American history.
September 7, 2022
3/5 Stars: ‘The Laramie Project’ by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project.
→ Age Range: Adult.
→ Genre: Non-Fiction, LGBT+ Drama.
→ Book Type: Play.
Favourite Quote: ‘Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.’
In-depth Rating:
→ Plot: ★★
→ Character Development: ★★★★
→ Setting: ★★★
→ Entertainment Level: ★★★★
→ Writing: ★★★
General Comments: A tsunami of sadness. A documentary-style play giving voices to the members of the Laramie Community. It meditates on what counts as violence and what kinds of punishments are appropriate for these brutal acts. Themes of religion, and the nature of the homophobic attack are not avoided, but instead embraced and explored. The strength of love that people find through diversity, and the pain and magnitude of hatred, is palpable. Rest in Peace Matthew Shepard.
Time Read: One Day.
→ Audiobook: No.
→ Audiobook Narrator: -
Re-Read: No.
→ -:
→ -:
Trigger Warnings:
→ Discrimination (Homophobia).
→ Murder.
→ Death.
→ Age Range: Adult.
→ Genre: Non-Fiction, LGBT+ Drama.
→ Book Type: Play.
Favourite Quote: ‘Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew every day for it.’
In-depth Rating:
→ Plot: ★★
→ Character Development: ★★★★
→ Setting: ★★★
→ Entertainment Level: ★★★★
→ Writing: ★★★
General Comments: A tsunami of sadness. A documentary-style play giving voices to the members of the Laramie Community. It meditates on what counts as violence and what kinds of punishments are appropriate for these brutal acts. Themes of religion, and the nature of the homophobic attack are not avoided, but instead embraced and explored. The strength of love that people find through diversity, and the pain and magnitude of hatred, is palpable. Rest in Peace Matthew Shepard.
Time Read: One Day.
→ Audiobook: No.
→ Audiobook Narrator: -
Re-Read: No.
→ -:
→ -:
Trigger Warnings:
→ Discrimination (Homophobia).
→ Murder.
→ Death.
April 8, 2009
Matthew Shepard was a gay young man who was brutally beaten, tied to a fence post and left to die a slow, painful death in a small, Wyoming town. His killers were two young men around his age -- one was a Mormon.
When Shepard's murder saturated the media, I felt the usual disgust with the world that I do every time I hear of stuff like this. But I had a hard time bringing myself to read about what happened. It took a reading assignment in a class to get me to read The Laramie Project.
The Laramie Project is a play written after a group of actors from the Tectonic Theater Project interviewed dozens of Laramie citizens. The actors basically asked open-ended questions and let the tape recorder run. People have no idea how what they say contradicts what they do.
"We live and let live here" is what they say. But ask a gay man who lives in Laramie what that means, and he will tell you that "live and let live" means, "You don't tell me you're gay, and I won't kick the shit out of you."
When a critical mass of citizens believe that homosexuality is evil, and that if you let it be known you're gay, you are just "asking for it," then horrible acts of inhumanity result.
In light of the recent passage of Proposition 8, an anti-gay marriage initiative in California, I feel great shame about having had anything to do with the Mormon religion in the past. Knowing that the church spent millions of dollars to get this hate law on the books makes me fear for the men and women of faith who have bought into the church's homophobia and turned this into self-loathing and despair. I wonder how much this encourages acts of violence among stupid people who only need the flimsy excuse of religion to hurt someone.
As you can see, this was a thought-provoking book. If you are like me, you won't read it if you think it will be nothing but a downer. However, the end of the book is sprinkled with acts of kindness that people are capable of, and you will want to look for opportunities to use their resourcefulness and creativity when you are confronted with acts of hate.
When Shepard's murder saturated the media, I felt the usual disgust with the world that I do every time I hear of stuff like this. But I had a hard time bringing myself to read about what happened. It took a reading assignment in a class to get me to read The Laramie Project.
The Laramie Project is a play written after a group of actors from the Tectonic Theater Project interviewed dozens of Laramie citizens. The actors basically asked open-ended questions and let the tape recorder run. People have no idea how what they say contradicts what they do.
"We live and let live here" is what they say. But ask a gay man who lives in Laramie what that means, and he will tell you that "live and let live" means, "You don't tell me you're gay, and I won't kick the shit out of you."
When a critical mass of citizens believe that homosexuality is evil, and that if you let it be known you're gay, you are just "asking for it," then horrible acts of inhumanity result.
In light of the recent passage of Proposition 8, an anti-gay marriage initiative in California, I feel great shame about having had anything to do with the Mormon religion in the past. Knowing that the church spent millions of dollars to get this hate law on the books makes me fear for the men and women of faith who have bought into the church's homophobia and turned this into self-loathing and despair. I wonder how much this encourages acts of violence among stupid people who only need the flimsy excuse of religion to hurt someone.
As you can see, this was a thought-provoking book. If you are like me, you won't read it if you think it will be nothing but a downer. However, the end of the book is sprinkled with acts of kindness that people are capable of, and you will want to look for opportunities to use their resourcefulness and creativity when you are confronted with acts of hate.
July 25, 2013
Unexpectedly moving. The Laramie Project isn't really about homosexuality or the Matt Shepard murder- it's bigger than that. The play lays out viewpoints of different sorts of people in society in a way that is unbiased and yet encouraging of self reflection, and motivates change without actually calling for change. It really opened my mind and kind of changed my perspective on the death penalty and religion and humanity in general. The Laramie Project is going stay with me for a long while... especially this quote: “They were both my patients and they were two kids. I took care of both of them....Of both their bodies. And...for a brief moment I wondered if this is how God feels when he looks down at us. How we are all his kids....Our bodies....Our souls....And I felt a great deal of compassion....For both of them....”
February 21, 2024
a brilliantly written play about modern america and the how middle america deals with tragedy. this is a must read or must see for everyone. i’m still processing this, but holy shit. it’s a must read.
Read #2 : 2/19/24
This one struck a little harder the second go around. I just got cast in a production of Laramie and so I reread it to get a sense of my characters. This story is such a hard hitter, but still so important to be told.
Read #3 : 2/20/24
God. This show. It is so moving. We had our first read through tonight and it is such a story that needs to be told.
Read #2 : 2/19/24
This one struck a little harder the second go around. I just got cast in a production of Laramie and so I reread it to get a sense of my characters. This story is such a hard hitter, but still so important to be told.
Read #3 : 2/20/24
God. This show. It is so moving. We had our first read through tonight and it is such a story that needs to be told.
July 8, 2020
One of the most important pieces I have ever read. Beautiful life, brutal hatred, prejudice, ignorance, justification, grace, and forgiveness all in one collection. An instant theatre for social change piece with a minimal set but maximum impact with an ensemble cast. I have done some cutting of this piece and have taught it with great success and dialogue in a secondary setting. You change after reading it, but you have renewed purpose in equal rights activism after seeing it performed.
June 3, 2018
Matthew Shepard was murdered in an horrendous way or for a terrible reason. This story recounts the murder and how a town has to deal with the aftermath. For me, despite the anguish and heartache, each story like this that people hear about should be a learning experience in morality, humanity and empathy. Maybe this tragedy cam help to make sure something like this never happens again.
June 25, 2008
I still tear up every time.
June 13, 2016
Laramie, Wyoming, 1998. An account of Matthew Shepard heinous murder because of his being gay. So tangible that it left me in tears.
June 5, 2018
A really arresting verbatim text that would benefit from a bit more depth, but really dramatises the right moments.
April 6, 2024
While reading the “The Laramie Project” by Moises Kaufman, there were many emotions that I had throughout the play and one of them was sadness. The play focuses on Matthew Shepard, a young open gay man who was murdered. The play begins with many residents of Laramie, Wyoming complimenting the town and saying how great of a place it is to live in before the murder. After the introduction, members of the Tectonic Theatre Project talk about how they were asked by Moises Kaufman to join him and do research about Matthew Shepard which they were hesitant at first, but agreed after. The company met with many people who knew and were friends with Matthew and described what kind of person he was. They also meet with residents of Laramie, Wyoming and ask how they feel towards the LGBTQ community, conservative and non conservative people. After the many interviews, it eventually leads up to the night of the murder and they ask the workers at the bar what happened which they reveal Matthew left with two men. Once the trial begins and the death penalty is in question, Matthew's father makes a heart wrenching statement about how his son's murderer deserves to live and should thank Matthew since he is alive because of him and so the trial is over and the residents give thought about the case and how it changed them.
Reflecting on the play and looking back, this play made me feel sad because of how some residents, specifically the religious residents, thought about Matthew and his death. It made me feel sad because they stated how Matthew's lifestyle led to his murder and it was his punishment for it. It’s sad to think how this type of mentality goes around and believes that it was Matthew’s lifestyle that got him murdered and not because of homophobia, which is one of the common themes of the play. Homophobia is one of the themes in “The Laramie Project” because of how it focuses on the residents and their opinions when someone doesn’t fit the social norm. The town is considered homophobic because of how they view gay people and because of this many people who are part of the LGBTQ community are afraid to be themselves in the town. I feel like this play does a good job on showing the negative impact homophobia can have and how cruel it is think that being your own authentic self can get you murdered.
Reflecting on the play and looking back, this play made me feel sad because of how some residents, specifically the religious residents, thought about Matthew and his death. It made me feel sad because they stated how Matthew's lifestyle led to his murder and it was his punishment for it. It’s sad to think how this type of mentality goes around and believes that it was Matthew’s lifestyle that got him murdered and not because of homophobia, which is one of the common themes of the play. Homophobia is one of the themes in “The Laramie Project” because of how it focuses on the residents and their opinions when someone doesn’t fit the social norm. The town is considered homophobic because of how they view gay people and because of this many people who are part of the LGBTQ community are afraid to be themselves in the town. I feel like this play does a good job on showing the negative impact homophobia can have and how cruel it is think that being your own authentic self can get you murdered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 7, 2024Summary: The Laramie Project takes place in Laramie, Wyoming, and focuses on the murder of Matthew Shepard, an openly gay student at the university. The play is divided into acts and each focuses on different perspectives of the event. Act I serves as a background of the Laramie community and LGBT people’s lives. This builds up to what happened the night Matthew was kidnapped and brutally beaten by Aaron Mckinnon and Russell Henderson. In Act II, we see how the town reacts upon the discovery of a beaten-up Matthew and further learn of his medical condition. Towards the end of Act II, Matthew’s death results in Aaron and Russell being arrested and facing the possibility of receiving the death penalty. In Act III, Matthew’s funeral follows an anti-gay Reverend who staged a protest soon after we turn to Aaron and Russels' trial when the verdict is read the effects of the tragedy deeply affected the people of Laramie.
Commentary: Hate crime is an accurate description of Matthew Shephard’s murder. He was killed for being gay in a society where homosexuality is not tolerated. The play’s most significant explanation is the difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals as well as demonstrating the deadly consequence of homophobia. Although many heterosexual individuals in Laramie don’t see homophobia as a significant problem in their town. They know individuals who are homosexuals who don’t pose a threat or seem threatening to them in any kind of way. A phrase used by Marge Murray states “Live and let live” illustrates that people lead lives that hardly intersect with the lives of gay people and some of those gay individuals live next door. If they happily live and gay people don’t confront their existence. The same should apply vice-versa. People in Laramie should be allowed to live without fear of being persecuted for their way of life.
Commentary: Hate crime is an accurate description of Matthew Shephard’s murder. He was killed for being gay in a society where homosexuality is not tolerated. The play’s most significant explanation is the difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals as well as demonstrating the deadly consequence of homophobia. Although many heterosexual individuals in Laramie don’t see homophobia as a significant problem in their town. They know individuals who are homosexuals who don’t pose a threat or seem threatening to them in any kind of way. A phrase used by Marge Murray states “Live and let live” illustrates that people lead lives that hardly intersect with the lives of gay people and some of those gay individuals live next door. If they happily live and gay people don’t confront their existence. The same should apply vice-versa. People in Laramie should be allowed to live without fear of being persecuted for their way of life.
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April 8, 2024The Laramie Project is a play following a true story of Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old university student who was murdered in Laramie, Wyoming in 1998. It explores the viewpoints of this close-knit community on the LGBTQ community and Matthew’s murder. While some people show indifference towards the topic, those from more conservative religions are uncomfortable at the mention of homosexuality. The trial of Aaron, Matthew’s attacker, follows his death, to which he was convicted of murder, ultimately leaving the town in a period of reflection. The residents take a look back on what the crime has done to their town and how that has shifted their viewpoints on a personal and communal level.
I really enjoyed reading through this play. I thought that it was interesting how the playwright used interview style passages for each of the characters to get their thoughts about what was happening. To me, this was an effective way of getting to know not only the characters themselves and their personalities, but also to get a feel for the town as a whole. I also find that this play has an interesting take on approaching the topic of violence and hate-crimes against the LGBTQ community. By using the setting to its advantage, the audience can understand the sorrow and anger felt by so many due to the crime that was the catalyst. The play just overall highlights the struggles of not only the LGBTQ community, but also allies supporting them, trying to advocate for change in especially conservative areas. The themes are heavy and leave the audience with a lot to think about, but I think that for a play of this nature, that is a necessity so that reflection can be done, ultimately leading to change in the real world when necessary.
I really enjoyed reading through this play. I thought that it was interesting how the playwright used interview style passages for each of the characters to get their thoughts about what was happening. To me, this was an effective way of getting to know not only the characters themselves and their personalities, but also to get a feel for the town as a whole. I also find that this play has an interesting take on approaching the topic of violence and hate-crimes against the LGBTQ community. By using the setting to its advantage, the audience can understand the sorrow and anger felt by so many due to the crime that was the catalyst. The play just overall highlights the struggles of not only the LGBTQ community, but also allies supporting them, trying to advocate for change in especially conservative areas. The themes are heavy and leave the audience with a lot to think about, but I think that for a play of this nature, that is a necessity so that reflection can be done, ultimately leading to change in the real world when necessary.
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April 8, 2024In the play titled “The Laramie Project”, author Moises Kaufman recounts the events that occurred in the town of Laramie when a young man named Matthew Shepard is found dead and tied to a fence. This is because Matthew Shepard was openly expressive about his sexuality and some people of the Laramie community did not like that. This devastated most of the town as an investigation began. Moises Kaufman, the Tectonic Theater Project’s leader, conducts an investigation by asking the members of the Laramie community about their feelings towards Matthew. Most of them have nothing but good things to say about young Matthew Shepard, but some others disguised their kind remarks as a subtle jab at Matthew’s sexuality. Saying things like he was a good boy, but the family would not agree with his lifestyle.
Upon reading the play, I enjoyed how we were able to get inside information on what the people from the Laramie community thought about what had happened to Matthew Shepard. I think including these interviews in the play was a good way to ensure that readers of the play could get a full understanding of the weight that Matthew’s unjust death left on the community. I particularly liked this part of the play, as I was able to form my own thoughts about the situation and even sympathize with those who felt heartbroken by what happened to Matthew. It must have been a truly terrible time in the community after the incident. I wonder if this left some members of the community wondering if they too would be safe in their town. I wonder if some members did not really know the whole situation as to why Matthew was killed. Then again, Matthew Shepard was open about who he was; it is most likely that they knew and hopefully felt sympathy for his family.
Upon reading the play, I enjoyed how we were able to get inside information on what the people from the Laramie community thought about what had happened to Matthew Shepard. I think including these interviews in the play was a good way to ensure that readers of the play could get a full understanding of the weight that Matthew’s unjust death left on the community. I particularly liked this part of the play, as I was able to form my own thoughts about the situation and even sympathize with those who felt heartbroken by what happened to Matthew. It must have been a truly terrible time in the community after the incident. I wonder if this left some members of the community wondering if they too would be safe in their town. I wonder if some members did not really know the whole situation as to why Matthew was killed. Then again, Matthew Shepard was open about who he was; it is most likely that they knew and hopefully felt sympathy for his family.
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March 22, 2020I just realized that this was actually the book that got me out of my reading slump back in February. Needless to say, I loved this play. The journalistic format is done really well. Important thing to note is that you really should ready the preface/authors notes at the beginning. I read this for my theatre appreciation class and apparently most people just went straight to the play and was confused by the formatting as a result, saying it was hard to read and disorganized. I knew the context going in and was really immersed in the story. I literally couldn’t stop reading. I can’t even remember the last time I couldn’t put down a book. I would suggest to read some articles on the actual even after finishing this play. They will provide you with more information on what happened. However the play hits a deeper level with the human perspective. The townspeople gets to tell their story of what happened. The ending is rather abrupt just like the life of Mathew Shepard. I needed more closure. My book came with the sequel, The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, which will provide more information on the things that happened after the publication of the play as well as people’s reflection on the case 10 years later. I haven’t had to chance to read it yet, but this will get a 5 star rating once I get my CLOSURE.
May 6, 2021
The nature of the Laramie Project (interviews, etc) reminds me of oral histories that will often be taken after incredibly influential events ... although organized as a play, TLP also serves as a history, documentation with many perspectives. The epigraph reads, “After all, not to create only, or found only // But to bring perhaps from afar what is already founded // To give it our own identity.” This is the essence of an interview (or an oral history). That the messages, ideas, and experiences floating around people’s heads are already there — they just need to be recorded and brought to light (and perhaps reorganized to show some overarching message). My impression is that that was Kaufman’s aim: not to invent a new perspective for the sake of drama and playwriting, but to combine those that already existed and present a holistic and touching view of a true story, using real words taken verbatim. The murder of Matthew Shepard was a horrible tragedy that had historical implications for the future of politics, law, activism, and the LGBTQ+ cause. And it is really really really heartbreaking. This should be read by every American at least once, regardless of political affiliation or background.
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