The Laramie Project University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance
With the Department of Theatre and Dance set to return to its beloved Guignol Theatre stage, it is proud to announce its 2021-2022 Main Stage Season of thought-provoking, culturally conscious productions alongside a first-time collaboration between the university’s dance and musical theatre students.
Included is "The Laramie Project" and “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,” by Moises Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project. "The Laramie Project" will be presented Nov 18-21. Exact dates for "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" are to be determined. In 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left tied to a fence in a prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. He died five days later. Shepard was murdered because he was gay.
Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the next year, in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. Ten years later Tectonic members returned to Laramie to understand the long-term effect of the murder. “The Laramie Project” and “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” are bold works that explore a community torn apart and dealing with its legacy.