The Laramie Project Still Moves at Erickson Theatre Off Broadway

The Laramie Project, written by Moisés Kaufman, is at this point in its ten-year history a very ubiquitous and well-known play. It's been performed across the country in high schools, by celebrities, and at community theaters such as The Erickson Theatre Off Broadway. It's a glimpse into the heart of America, against the backdrop of one last decade’s most monumental events: the brutal kidnapping, torture, and murdering of 21 year-old Matthew Shepard. The hideous nature of the crime, combined with its hatred and motivation, created a public outcry against homophobia and inspired a movement of gay rights activists. It was and is, to say the least, a big deal.

Within weeks of the crime, a troupe of actors from the Tectonic Theater Project travelled to Laramie, Wyoming to interview the citizens of the town. They talked with hundreds of people, from the town sheriff to the Catholic priest, hairdressers, friends of Matthew, the doctor who treated Matthew when he got to the hospital, the police officer who first arrived on the scene and the unfortunate fellow who found his nearly lifeless body strung up on a fence, left to die.

The Laramie Project is a series of short monologues by the people of Laramie. The results are magnificent. The townspeople open up about how the crime - because of the massive media attention it garnered - had come to define who they collectively were. At different times in the play the monologues are funny and overwhelmingly sad, they are surprising and touching, they are honest and moving.