The Laramie Project

Miskin Level 4 Actors have been working on The Laramie Project, a verbatim play based on the story of Matthew Shepard. Matthew was a student at the University of Wyoming, who was killed in 1998 in a homophobic hate crime. The play follows the case, and highlights the attitudes of the people of Laramie, and shows how they dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy.The play was written by the Tectonic Theatre Project, and is made up of hundreds of interviews conducted by the company with the inhabitants of the town, along with journal entries.

The actors contacted and spoke with founder member Leigh Fondakowski as part of their research. The technical theatre team worked closely with the actors, and as part of the minimalist set replicated the fence which Matthew was left to die on.

The cast and crew handled the subject with sensitivity and maturity, and were honoured to have told Matthew’s story.