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Columbia Center
for the Arts

215 Cascade Street

PO Box 1543

Hood River, OR 97031

541-387-8877

 

A Gay Student Beaten to Death

Written Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Mary Fassel

In October 1998 a 21 year old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, WY.

His bloody, bruised and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in the area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay.

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More About Laramie Project

Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made 6 trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the 2 young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. Some people interviewed were directly connected to the case, and others were citizens of Laramie and the breadth of their reactions to the crime is fascinating.

Kaufman and Tectonic Theater members have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these interviews and their own experiences to create a breathtaking collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable.

The Laramie Project is a play that causes us to look within ourselves, and ask: What kind of biases do we hold against people? Where does irrational fear reside in our minds? When do we let those aspects control our behavior and whom does it impact?