On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an ac...
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Dec 16, 2009
Claire
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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 La More...
I directed this play in Ireland in a town similar to La More...
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Jan 25, 2009
WaiThain
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The Laramie Project was one of my favorite plays because it is not too biased. It includes interviews from people who have different views, and I especially enjoyed interviews that were made by the accused and their family members. I was surprised that Russell Henderson pleaded guilty because if he has done it earlier, he would have received a less severe sentence as an accessory. Unlike Fires in the Mirror, in this play, the friends and family members of the accused stayed neutral. They told th
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Jun 02, 2011
the little reader
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on October 7, 1998, just outside the small town of Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard was found beaten and left for dead, very literally. both the play and the movie, The Laramie Project, are responses to that murder.
"The essential facts are that the defendants, Aaron James McKinney and Russell Arthur Henderson, met Matthew Shepard at the Fireside Bar, and after Mr. Shepard confided that he was gay, the subjects deceived Mr. Shepard into leaving with them in their vehicle to a re More...
"The essential facts are that the defendants, Aaron James McKinney and Russell Arthur Henderson, met Matthew Shepard at the Fireside Bar, and after Mr. Shepard confided that he was gay, the subjects deceived Mr. Shepard into leaving with them in their vehicle to a re More...
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Feb 17, 2011
Lindsey
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The Laramie Project is a book revolving around the community of the town Laramie, Wyoming, about the death of Matthew Shepard.
I enjoyed this book due to the emotion within it. The book takes a neutral tone on the subject of gay rights, and focuses mostly on the communities reaction. This was refreshing because I didn't want to read something preachy, I wanted to decide for myself what was right and wrong. And that's what I got.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like reading a More...
I enjoyed this book due to the emotion within it. The book takes a neutral tone on the subject of gay rights, and focuses mostly on the communities reaction. This was refreshing because I didn't want to read something preachy, I wanted to decide for myself what was right and wrong. And that's what I got.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like reading a More...
Feb 17, 2011
The Laramie Project is a heart felt play about a young gay man that goes through an unexpected change. The Members of Tectonic Theater Project put together interviews from Laramie, Wyoming to make a play out of a true story. It is a play focusing on Matthew Shepard. A young man going to the local university. One night at the bar he is spotted by two boys named Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney. They walk out of the bar together and the next day Matthew is found tied to the fence. He is bound
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Feb 11, 2011
Adam
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In the year 2009, I had the ability to attend the Iowa Thespian Festival where around 300 high school students watched as around 12 of their peers perform The Laramie Project. Sitting in the audience, I was moved by the real story of the young Matthew Sheppard who was robbed, beaten, and left to die by two kids of his own age. Fast forward a year in a half, and sitting in class I noticed my theatre director had The Laramie Project sitting on her shelf. I quickly grabbed the book and started to r
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Apr 07, 2009
Brenda
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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. More...
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. More...
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Jun 17, 2010
Angel
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I have to say that I have not read a play in a long time. I think it has been since I was in graduate school for my English studies graduate work. This play is coming to our town, and I wanted to read it before I went to see the performance. I am glad I did. The play covers the event of Matthew Shepard's murder in Laramie, Wyoming in 1999. But the play is not about the murder itself. It is more about the townspeople and how they responded to the play. It is about how bigotry and ignorance live i
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Jun 13, 2009
I thought that overall this was a very informative book and had a good overall grasp of what happened to Mathew Shepard and the impact that it had on the Laramie populations. I guess since this was a book on something that has already happened and is well known I can’t really expect anything new. What I really enjoyed about this book was that it captured the feelings of almost the whole Laramie population as pose to just talking about what happened to Mathew Shepard.
A issue or an idea t More...
A issue or an idea t More...
Jan 30, 2009
Efrain
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Out of the three plays we read in Plays class this quarter, I liked this one the most. It was a step aside from racism and gave more intuition on a topic that seems more sensitive than that of racism. Kaufman also did a good job in not having any of his scenes repeat the same information found in the beginning of the book. The reason why i like this book tho is because it has random scenes that seem to not fit with anything. For example, there's this one part that goes from Matthew in the hospit
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Jan 29, 2009
Benewaa
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This book is very interesting because it shows the hatred many of us have for each other. Mathew, a gay boy who lived in Wyoming was brutally beaten by Russell Henderson and Aron McKinney. The two boys first met Mathew at a bar and as the bartender describes it, they approached him first. Later on in the night, Mathew left the bar with the two strangers and that was the point the boys took Mathew to a remote area and they humiliated him.
The main theme of this book is homophobia More...
The main theme of this book is homophobia More...
Jan 22, 2009
Qi Yin
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The Laramie Project, by Moises and The Members of the Tectonic Theater Company is a play about the beating of a young gay men, Matthew Shepard to death. The author Moises and the crew members of the Tectonic Theater went to Laramie, Wyoming and conducted over 200 interviews with the people and the people who are involved in the incident.
Though it is the two perpetrators, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson's fault for the beating Matthew Shepard, Matthew Shepard is also responsible for More...
Though it is the two perpetrators, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson's fault for the beating Matthew Shepard, Matthew Shepard is also responsible for More...
May 21, 2011
Sara
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I first saw this play my freshman year of college and it completely changed my world view. I'd never given much thought to gay people before that- never had gay friends, never needed to really confront my thoughts or feelings about people being gay. I was actually afraid to see the play because I didn't know what to expect. Of course, I had heard of Matthew Shepherd but I hadn't given it a lot of thought aside from "how terrible" and moved on. None of this is anything I am proud of but
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Jan 31, 2011
Colleen
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This is a play about the very sad situation Laramie, Wyoming found itself. It was interesting to me because the event fell at a time in my life before I was aware of these situations. What I really enjoyed was the way the play was put together so it wasn't simply a focus on the sad event of Laramie. It captured the town of Laramie, and the people. The creation process consisted of hundreds of interviews, and many trips from NYC to Laramie. The differences between the two places were enough
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Jun 16, 2009
i liked this book a lot because it talked about issues that people aren't comfortable talking about. it brought out the truth from people that were really affected. i also thought after reading the book that the murder of matt was very immature. i think this because they murdered him because he was gay and they "claim" it was a robbery or because he was hitting on them. i think the actions of these people are sick and i liked how the book had many opinions about this issue. i was also
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May 06, 2011
Serenity
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7/10. Pretty powerful stuff, mostly due to the subject matter. Matthew Sheppard's murder in 1998 in the town of Laramie, Wyoming was a true story. It was an act of hate crime against a gay man. This play is about the members of the Tectonic Theater who go to the town in the aftermath of the murder and interview a bunch of townspeople regarding the tragedy. The format/presentation of the play is in the form of a documentary, involving snippets of interviews with various characters. Pretty unique.
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Jul 13, 2011
Marisa
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This is a story everyone should either read or see. It is the story of the aftermath of the brutal beating death of Matthew Shepard. I think this line (which appears twice in the play) sums up the story well:
"FATHER ROGER SCHMIT: And I will speak with you, I will trust that if you write a play of this, that you say it right."
I think The Laramie Project does just that. It is neither pro or anti gay. They share what the people of Laramie told them and didn't portray anyone as More...
"FATHER ROGER SCHMIT: And I will speak with you, I will trust that if you write a play of this, that you say it right."
I think The Laramie Project does just that. It is neither pro or anti gay. They share what the people of Laramie told them and didn't portray anyone as More...
Jan 06, 2011
Lisa
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Each time I teach the gay/lesbian literature class we offer online, I include this book. This past semester, like all the others, it was a tremendous success. The play becomes the backbone of the class, especially for students who are not familiar with the Matthew Shepard case or with gay issues or with challenges gay folks face in the middle of the country. This semester we were lucky to see Moises Kaufman at the SF Jewish Community Center in tandem with reading the play. He was wonderfully art
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Jan 28, 2009
Lashai
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A friend of mine had suggested that i read this book, because she thought it was good. Overall, i would agree with her. I like most the main concept of the story. Reading about conflicts with homosexuals always interests me because i have many friends and some family members who are homosexuals. One of my closest friends is homosexual, and as i read this book, i thought of him because many times by boys who disliked him because oh his sexuality. I just think it's pathetic that things like t
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Oct 09, 2011
Richard
rated it:
I first read this play years ago...not two long after it became a theatrical hit. Still very moving play. Apparently, it's one of the most produced play in America. I auditioned for the Foothill College production because it's similar to a play I'm writing, it's close to my office, and I was itching to act and meet new people. So I got cast as FRED PHELPS - the awful creep who is the patriarch of the Westboro Baptist Church. It's always fun to play the bad guy...Looking forward to performing in
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Dec 28, 2009
Cedric
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What I love about this book is how raw it is. Nobody left out anything because they thought it was too graphic, nobody tried to protect what happened. It happened, and people spoke openly and honestly about their experiences, their emotions and their beliefs.
I also very much appreciate how no one was left out. The book doesn't try to blame anyone or put anyone in a bad light, it simply tells the story through real words that were said.
I hope everyone gets the chance to read this
I also very much appreciate how no one was left out. The book doesn't try to blame anyone or put anyone in a bad light, it simply tells the story through real words that were said.
I hope everyone gets the chance to read this
May 02, 2010
"The Laramie Project" by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Company, is an amazingly well-written, non-fiction play. On October 12, 1998 in the small town of Laramie Wyoming a university student named Matthew Shepard was murdered by two of his classmates, because of his sexuality. This hate crime raged a fire in the U.S. media for over a year. A theater company called "The Tectonic Theater Project" traveled from New York to Laramie with the intent of heari
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Nov 01, 2009
Sean
rated it:
One of the most amazing, heart-wrenching and insightful plays you will ever read. The power is in its simplicity, and the fact that it is a masterfully edited collection of transcripts of interviews with real-life people. There is such a truth to this whole piece, and in the end it becomes more than words. Laramie transforms into a symbol of our society - one that both allows the depravity of the treatment of someone like Matthew Shepard, and one that fights against it.
Feb 16, 2010
Megan
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tooooo sad. Overall the interviews were effective and varied. I'm not sure I love the way each character was introduced and re-introduced. It felt a bit hokey. I think the narrator role in this piece might not be necessary at all. I get that the members of the company wanted a chance to reflect on their own experiences and the writers wanted to remind the audience about the veracity and humanness of the events, but that might all have been possible without narrators and interviewers.
Jul 31, 2011
Phil
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Possibly more interesting for its experimental theatrical style than for the actual subject matter, The Laramie Project seems to take the voices of an entire town and put them on stage swirling in response to the murder of a young gay man named Matt Shepherd. Interestingly though, the one voice conspicuously absent from the play is Shepherd's, and his silence speaks volumes in a symbolic sense; namely, others must speak for Matt because he no longer can.
Sep 29, 2011
Jamie
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I haven't read this in ten years. Pulled it off the shelf for no real apparent reason tonight. Turns out it's coming up on 13 years since Matthew Shepard was found tied to a fence in the middle of nowhere. In my opinion is still one of the most important works in LGBTQ literature in the history of ever, let alone since the turn of the century, and if you haven't read it yet you should.
Mar 09, 2011
Angela
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This play forms sort of a snapshot of the town of Laramie at the point when Matthew Shepard, a young gay man, was beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. What I liked about it is that it portrays a whole variety of viewpoints, without seeming to force a preferred opinion on the audience. You just get to see all these individual people who are trying to sort the issues out in their own minds.
Sep 15, 2010
Kate
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This is one of my favorite plays. I actually stage managed this play in high school and it was very rough and poignant at different times. What's interesting about this play is that there are only a few actors...five, if my memory serves me correctly and they play many parts.
(I say my copy is of poor quality because it has my stage manager scribblings in it).
(I say my copy is of poor quality because it has my stage manager scribblings in it).
Aug 28, 2011
Susan
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Reading this was heart breaking. Such a great play. Captured those events so well. If I ever direct it I would want to use the updated version that was recently read at the Arena Stage in DC. Reason being that the events of this play took place over ten years ago. In order to make it more timely to the issues of the day a little updating is necessary. But, just to read I highly recommend it.
Aug 27, 2010
Cole
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I missed the rendition of this play performed at my school due to conflicts with both my parents and schedules of a dance during my senior year. After reading this play independently and feeling struck by how moving it was I cannot help but feel that I missed an almost religious experience by failing to see this piece performed live.
The interviews of various people from behind the scenes, who never seemed to have faces until I read the book "The Meaning of Matthew" by Judy More...
The interviews of various people from behind the scenes, who never seemed to have faces until I read the book "The Meaning of Matthew" by Judy More...
