The Laramie project

Format:

Book

Title:

The Laramie project

Author:

Kaufman, Moisés.

ISBN:

9780375727191

9780739420379

Edition:

First Vintage books edition.

Publication:

New York : Vintage Books, 2001.

Physical Description:

xiv, 112 pages ; 21 cm

General Note:

Cast: Men, Women.

Summary:

"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 act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard's death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie the event was deeply personal, and it is their voices we hear in this stunningly effective theater piece. Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. From these interviews as well as their own experiences, Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater members have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience. The Laramie Project chronicles the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder, using eight actors to embody more than sixty different people in their own words--from rural ranchers to university professors. The result is a complex portrayal that dispels the simplistic media stereotypes and explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable"--Jacket.

Contains Death, Homophobia, and Murder. Book Trigger Warnings. https://booktriggerwarnings.com/The_Laramie_Project_by_Mois%C3%A9s_Kaufman_and_Tectonic_Theater_Project

Personal Subject:

Shepard, Matthew, 1976-1998-Death and burial-Drama.

Shepard, Matthew, 1976-1998

Subject(s):

Gay men -- Crimes against -- Drama.

Trials (Murder) -- Drama.

Homophobia -- Drama.

Homicide -- Drama.

Prejudices.

Homophobia -- Wyoming -- Laramie -- Drama.

Laramie (Wyo.) -- Drama.

Geographic Term:

Laramie (Wyo.) -- Drama.

Wyoming -- Laramie

Genre:

scripts (documents)

Plays (Performed works).

Drama

Drama.

Added Corporate Author:

Tectonic Theater Project.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Stayton Public Library	812.54 KAUFMAN	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Salem Main Library	812.54 Kaufman 2001	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

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 act of hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard's death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie the event was deeply personal, and it's they we hear in this stunningly effective theater piece, a deeply complex portrait of a community.

Author Notes

Moises Kaufman is the founder and artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project, a theater company based in New York City. His 1997 play Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde was named one of the best plays of the year by Time , Newsday , The New York Post , The Advocate , and The New York Times . With Tectonic he has directed works by Samuel Beckett, Tennessee Williams, Benjamin Britten, Sophie Treadwell, and Christohper Ashley, as well as new works by Peter Golub and Naomi Iizuka. He is the recipient of the 1997 Joe A. Callaway Award for excellence in the craft of stage direction given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation for his work on Gross Indecency .

In his native Venezuela, Mr. Kaufman performed as an actor with the Thespis Theater Ensemble, one of the country's foremost experimental theater companies. He has lived in New York City since 1987.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Adult/High School-This remarkable play takes the form of a series of juxtaposed monologues, culled from hundreds of interviews that the authors conducted with residents of Laramie, WY, after the fatal beating of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Additional speeches are taken from journals the authors kept while they were involved in this project. From these fragments, a powerful whole is created, giving readers and audiences a full and shimmering picture of a quiet town suddenly thrust into the media spotlight and hastily branded as "backward." Shepard's friends are heard from, as are the friends of his convicted killers. Masterfully woven together to breathtaking effect are statements from Laramie's religious leaders-some of whom condemn the murder, others of whom condemn the victim. A thoughtful and moving theatrical tour de force.-Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Moises Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project have written a play documenting the aftermath of the savage killing of Matthew Shepard, including the perspectives of both friends and strangers: The Laramie Project. This innovative theatrical composition, structured not in scenes, but in "moments," addresses the various issues relating to the tragedy of Shepard, a young gay man whose murder has since become a symbol for America's struggle against intolerance. Kaufman's approach is actor-based, as opposed to text-based; a side-effect of this actor-based approach is that in print form it seems as though something is missing. However, the play promises to move the reader with its authentic portrayal of a small town facing a terrifying event. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

In the clever docudrama Gross Indecency (1998), Kaufman wove the transcripts of the Oscar Wilde trials into a fascinating, enlightening evening of theater. In The Laramie Project, Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project attempt something similar and contemporary with the case of the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. Kaufman and company conducted hours of interviews with everyone remotely involved in the case, from one of Shepard's college professors to the girlfriend of one of the convicted killers. They cobbled together the highlights of those sessions into a work that aspires to the brilliance of Emily Mann's Execution of Justice, about the murders of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk. The play falls short of that, however, largely because it lacks the cohesiveness and narrative thrust of Mann's play or even of Gross Indecency. Still, it has moments of astonishing power, such as the chilling sequence in which an evangelical minister reveals his sympathy with Shepard's killers. --Jack Helbig

Library Journal Review

The savage murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in October 1998 left deep wounds in the psyche of Laramie, WY, and in that of our entire nation. Soon after Matthew's death, Kaufman and members of his Tectonic Theater Project (also responsible for the highly acclaimed Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde) made a series of visits to Laramie over an 18-month period, conducting hundreds of face-to-face interviews with the town's citizens in order to create this piece. The words and voices of these people, including the college student who first discovered Matthew's broken body, Matthew's friends, teachers, the two young men responsible for his death, and Matthew's father, make this a deeply moving and brutally realistic dramatic experience. This true story of hate, fear, hope, and courage touched and changed many lives and will do so for everyone who reads or watches a performance of this theatrical masterpiece. Highly recommended for all collections. Howard Miller, St. Louis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.