Trinity College Department of Theater and Dance Presents “The Laramie Project,” November 17, 18, and 19 at 7:30 p.m.

“The Laramie Project,” a play by Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project, and directed by Barbara Karger, will be presented by the Trinity College Department of Theater and Dance, on November 17, 18, and 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Austin Arts Center’s Goodwin Theater.

Admission is free, but tickets are required; call the Austin Arts Center box office at (860) 297-2199.

On October 7, 1998, a gay college student was discovered bound to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of the town, the event was deeply personal.

In the aftermath, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, including Trinity alumnus Stephen Belber, went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with its citizens. From the transcripts, the playwrights constructed an extraordinary chronicle of life in the town after the murder.

Since its premiere in 2000, “The Laramie Project” has become one of the most performed theater pieces in America. Tectonic Theater director Moisés Kaufman received the National Medal for the Arts from President Obama on September 22, 2016.

For the Trinity College production, the creative team includes scenic and projection designer Tim Brown (“The Master Builder,” Yale Repertory Theatre, 2009), costume designer Elinor Watts, lighting designer Jesse Riley, and sound designer Malibongwe Thwala ’17.

The student cast comprises James Calabresi ’20, Caroline Cannon ’18, Anya Forsberg ’19, Pieter Hoets ’17, Hayden Mueller ’19, Precious Ogu ’20, Claire Pritchard ’20, William Tjeltveit ’20, Sarah Vazquez ’19, and Day Whaley ’20.

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