The Laramie Project Tickets

The protagonist character of the play is called Matthew Shepard. Shepard was a gay college student who was brutally murdered in Wyoming in 1998. He was kidnapped and beaten half to death, then tied to a fence and left there to die. He was found eighteen hours after this incident happened, and he died several days later of the injuries that he sustained by all that violence.

Moisés Kaufman, the director of Tectonic Theatre Project, and his team that is responsible for the play, interviewed the people who knew Shepard personally and took their first hand accounts to produce the act. There is no fiction or induced drama in this play. It is all based on reality and actual reports of the event. To keep the story close to reality, most of the play is being told through a monologue, in the first-person view.

There are eight main cast members of The Laramie Project, who are taking on about sixty characters in a series of different acts. These are two mothers, one college grad, two college theatre students and three high school students. All of them belong to Gaston or Lincoln counties. The performance is based on three main acts. The first one shows a detailed account of Shepard’s kidnap, beating and his transport to the hospital in a half burnt, battered and lifeless condition. The follow-up act is of the moving death and funeral. The last act shows trial of the two men that were convicted of this shameful crime.

The brutality of the storyline is only complimented by the absence of artificial effects in the actors’ performances. It makes the play appear realistic and has the intended effect on the audience, which is instilling the sense of realization that violence and murder cannot possibly bring any good.

Homophobia is not an alien concept nowadays, and there is a dire need to bring to peace the society at large with it. Get The Laramie Project tickets today to see the bleak side of the intolerant side of the society, and the consequences that it can lead to.

Matthew Shepard was just one person, but the domino effect that his unfortunate death has brought is phenomenal. The murder was deplored as a hate crime and it led to the realization of severe lack of laws existing in various states, including Wyoming, that are pertaining to the issue of hate crimes. Hence the play also leads to the general awareness of hate crimes. This incident was also the major driving force behind the activist movement that led to the creation of federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

The director of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Gaston’s production, James Kellogg expects the play to create awareness regarding the way people treat each other, and also highlight the necessity of respect and acceptance in society. In Kellogg’s own words, "I’ve found it (The Laramie Project) to be personally life transforming, I can’t say enough about how powerful it is and how relevant it is".

Shedding light on the consequences of hatred and lack of tolerance in the society, this production by Moisés Kaufman is surely a must-not-miss show. The thought-provoking questions and genuine statements made by the performers will make the attendees think where we stand today on the issues of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community) rights. Buy The Laramie Project tickets today to watch the true story and learn the lessons it teaches firsthand.