The Laramie Project Summary

Meta Description: Laramie, Wyoming is a quaint town in the Southeastern quarter of the state. It’s quiet and a great place to raise a family.

Life is an amazing, wonderful, beautiful adventure that we are blessed with every day. But, we are greeted many times throughout those days with choices we have to make. Most of those choices we make are built by the structure and beliefs that our parents and loved ones have passed onto us. Looking into how we were brought up can we really say what’s right or wrong? Can we positively determine that everyone thinks the same? While watching “The Laramie Project” you see and hear two-hundred different opinions towards the Matthew Shepard’s case. Two-hundred … that’s two-hundred people from Laramie, friends of the victim and attackers, and loved ones fighting for what they believe is right. This case not only caught the whole town’s attention but was recognized on a national level. Labeled as a hate crime you learn so much more about the people’s identity like Matthew Shepard as a homosexual, the tragedy of a man/son/friend that struck a town, and how people see Laramie, Wyoming as their home built by a community.

The Laramie Project is a play written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project by interviewing the residents of Laramie Wyoming about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard. The play raises controversy revolving around homosexuality, hate crimes and acceptance. In addition to the various themes suggested by the play, the author wanted to present the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie Community at the time of Shepard death. The three main perspectives towards homosexuality were hatred, tolerance and acceptance. The author also wanted to explore how these perspectives may have changed as the result of Shepard’s death.

The Laramie Project is a play written by Moises Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theater Project. The play is based on the interviews of the citizens of Laramie about what’s happening in Laramie and their responses to the murder of Matthew. In addition to the various themes suggested by the play, the author wanted to present the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie community at the time of Matthew’s death. The author also wanted to explore how these perspectives may have changed as the result of Matthew’s death. Even though the citizens of Laramie persisted that hate is not a value they practice, they still showed contrasting and puzzled views

In The Laramie Project, a character name Cathy Connolly claims that gay the people in Laramie feel the oppression from society, and are

The Laramie Project created by playwright Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project depicts the story of young Matthew Shepard, a 21- year old student at the University of Wyoming who on October of 1998 was brutally murdered, tortured and left alone to die. The hate crime attracted attention worldwide, bringing sexual discrimination open for public disclosure. Over a year and a half both Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project conducted interviews for over 200 subjects. Till this day the play is one of the most performed plays of the last decade.

Personally, for the duration of the health and social care course I believe that I have changed. This course has given me the additional skills and knowledge in which I can use for the future. My presentational skills especially have improved as before when I had to present to an audience I would become very nervous, however in various units presenting in front of an audience was essential. From the encouragement from both the teachers and my peers I am able to now confidently speak in front of a small audience and be comfortable with my work and present it - I have also used their feedback as a way to improve myself.

In “The Laramie Project,” written by members of the Tectonic theatre company, aims to examine the Matthew Shepard murder through the use of theatre. Within the play, there are several insights and moments that prove to be surprising, puzzling, useful, new, and interesting.

“the main purpose of Verbatim theatre has always been to challenge audiences into a confrontation with real events and concrete facts, an to prevent their escapism into theatrical fantasy.”

The Laramie Project, written by Moisés Kaufman, is a compilation of interviews by The Tectonic Theater Project, news publications, and journal entries. After the brutal murder of Mathew Sheppard in 1998. Kaufman along with his theater troupe made six visits to Laramie, Wyoming, where the murder took place, to interview people about what happened and how they felt about the crime in their community. They interviewed about two hundred people, of which about sixty were included in the play. The play showcases a small town in America in a historical time of tragedy. The production of The Laramie Project was simple. The stage setting was minimal and the the actors consisted of eight people portraying more than sixty. Through the patchwork of

After reading “The Laramie Project” your left with so many questions, ideas and emotions. The play is a series of interviews (reenacted exactly as they happened) to give the audience facts and true statements so that they can form there own opinion. The play takes place in Laramie Wyoming, after the “hate crime” that left 21 year old Matthew Shepard fighting for his life that ended soon after all because the fact that he was gay. Hate is a feeling and hate crime is acting on that hatred, but what exactly is a “hate crime”? What makes it so different from any other crime? Isn't all crime hate crime?

The skills that I developed while performing my play are extensive.This experience is one that I will always look back on. I learned and further developed various techniques during the whole process. Looking back on my performance, I realize that although I may have had some flaws, my overall performance was done well and I am very proud of myself. Skills that I developed were: characterization, memorization, the ability to block, and the ability to be loud enough. The most important skill I feel that I developed was characterization, in the play I was to portray a man named Brent who is curious, yet easy going and I feel like I was able to depict him well. I was able to portray my character well, because we had very similar character traits, so all I needed to do was look within myself and exhibit my natural curiosity and easygoing traits. Memorization was a skill I developed during this process because at first I had trouble remembering my lines, but after practicing and not relinquishing I was able to memorize all my lines, I am proud of having developed this skill because I did not let my group down, nor

The final part of An Actor Prepares focuses primarily on the aspects of what is known as the Stanislavski method, the acting method practiced by the books author. One of the most important things brought up about the method is that it does not “create” inspiration. As the director says, “It can only prepare a favorable ground for it”, only spontaneity in the human mind can truly create inspiration (302). To use the method, it is important that one knows the Super-Objective of the play. Authors, especially great ones, give their works a greater purpose that reflects their own beliefs, struggles and experiences. It is from learning this greater purpose that the characters actions gain a greater meaning, giving the actors greater room to work

As an inspiring actor, my approach has been to view productions from the actor’s perspective. With this limiting view, there are many As an inspiring actor, my approach has been to view productions from the actor’s perspective. With this limiting view, there are many things I have missed or not appreciated because I was not responsible or accountable and felt they were not relevant. Consequently, working with the production team has afforded me a different perspective and broaden my interest in different positions that contribute to the overall production. Being open to learning new things has always given me a sense of enhancing my understanding as an actor. I am very passionate about acting and have often been oblivious to the production part of the plays and film. Taking this Production Play course has given me options regarding directing and audio engineering that I had not considered.

In “Visible Words: The York Plays, Brecht, and Gestic Writing,” Garrett P.J. Epp defines this writing as “any attempt by a playwright to direct or control the action onstage through dialogue” 290). With the language of the text itself being imbued with movement, the conceptualized divine becomes presented in a physically tangible and comprehensible