Maplewood Richmond Heights theatre students, faculty, and administrators will perform the pioneering play, The Laramie Project, on October 18 and 20 at the MRH High School Theatre.
The play, by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, describes the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crimes laws in various states, including Wyoming.
On October 6, 1998, twenty-one-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died six days later. His torture and murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted many of the fault lines in our culture.
A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which they later made into a film for HBO. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries, and published news reports. It is divided into three acts, and actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes.
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The Laramie Project is a breathtaking theatrical collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable.
Show intended for mature audiences. Parental discretion is advised.
Performances:
Thursday, October 18, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 20, 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 20, 7:00 p.m.
Admission:
Admission is $5. $3 tickets are available with a donation of two can goods benefiting Weekend on Wheels.
Location:
MRH HS/MS Theatre
7539 Manchester Road, Maplewood MO 63143