The Laramie Project

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Recommended: Theatre performance analysis essay

The Laramie Project, written by Moisés Kaufman, is a compilation of interviews by The Tectonic Theater Project, news publications, and journal entries. After the brutal murder of Mathew Sheppard in 1998. Kaufman along with his theater troupe made six visits to Laramie, Wyoming, where the murder took place, to interview people about what happened and how they felt about the crime in their community. They interviewed about two hundred people, of which about sixty were included in the play. The play showcases a small town in America in a historical time of tragedy. The production of The Laramie Project was simple. The stage setting was minimal and the the actors consisted of eight people portraying more than sixty. Through the patchwork of interviews The Laramie Project conveys the themes of identity, representation, and change.

The main character of The Laramie Project is the town of Laramie, Wyoming. The subject matter is how the murder of Mathew Shepard impacted this small American town. “We could be on any main drag in America...As we passed the University Inn, on the sign where amenities such as heated pool or cable TV are usually touted, it said: HATE IS NOT A LARAMIE VALUE” (Jacobus 1632). The identity of many ordinary people was affected by a single unimaginable event. There is an emphasis placed on how the compilation of individual attitudes shape the identity of a community and how identities are altered in the wake of tragedy. “As in any work assembled from found materials, the creative choices of what to include, what to omit and how to juxtapose the pieces were guided by the creators' attitudes and the project's goal of understanding why the crime occurred and how it influenced community attitudes”(Evans). The Laramie...

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...e Seattle Times. 16 July 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review: A Brutal Act Alters a Town."Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 19 May 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Evans, Everett. "Review: Laramie Project Simple and Thought- provoking." Chron.com. The Houston Chronicle, 07 July 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Hoffman, Jan. "A Tale of Life, Love and Making It All Fit." Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 18 May 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Jacobus, Lee A. The Bedford Introduction to Drama. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009. Print.

Janofsky, Michael. "A Death in Laramie, Reimagined as Drama." Nytimes.com. The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2000. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

Thompson, Debby. "Performance Review of The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman" Jstor.org/. Theatre Journal.Vol. 53, No. 4 (Dec., 2001), pp. 644-645 Web. 20 Nov. 2011.

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