Details

Wednesday 7th October 1998: Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student at the University of Wyoming, was found lashed to a fence in the hills outside Laramie. He had been pistol-whipped, beaten and left barely breathing. Matthew never regained consciousness and died five days later. His attackers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, both Laramie men also in their early twenties, were already in custody. What followed was a worldwide media frenzy. The brutal death of Matthew Shepard forced the American public to address issues long swept under the carpet; Hate Crime and Homophobia. Moises Kauffman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project travelled to Laramie a month later. Over the course of two years they interviewed 200 townspeople and boiled down 400 hours of transcripts into the play involving 79 characters. The Laramie Project gives voice to every aspect about the brutal murder and its environment and asks could this be our town? Ten years on, Tectonic Theater members returned to Laramie to find out what has happened over the last decade. Has Matthew's murder had a lasting impact on society? How has the town changed as a result of that event? What does life in Laramie tell us about life in our own communities 10 years later? On October 12th 2009, 150 theatres across America presented readings of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later to commemorate the 11th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death. Now, for the first time ever in London, audiences will be able to witness this powerful theatrical event in a special One Night Only reading of the play.

Creatives/Company

Author: Moises Kaufman (and members of the Tectonic Theater Project)
Producer: Wild Oats Productions (in association with Greenwich Theatre)
Director: Joseph C Walsh