The Laramie Project
Friday, November 15, 2019 at 8:00pm
CFA Theater
$10 general public; $5 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $5 Wesleyan students, youth under 18
Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 2:00pm
CFA Theater
$10 general public; $5 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $5 Wesleyan students, youth under 18
Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:00pm
CFA Theater
$10 general public; $5 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $5 Wesleyan students, youth under 18
Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 2:00pm
CFA Theater
$10 general public; $5 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $5 Wesleyan students, youth under 18
"There emerges a mosaic as moving and important as any you will see on the walls of the churches of the world...nothing short of stunning...you will be held in rapt attention."—New York Magazine
Written by Moises Kauffman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, The Laramie Project (2000) is an alternatively heart-wrenching and soul-enriching story of tragedy and compassion. Long hailed as a seminal theatrical work that probes the deepest mysteries of human vulnerability and collective strength, the play recounts the final hours of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard's life following a senseless attack that demonstrated the depths of human rage. The Tectonic Theater Company moved to Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath and through over 200 interviews—witnessing the trial of the perpetrators and canvassing an array of citizens—they created a theatrical event which gives a place at the table to a disenfranchised LGBTQ community. Wesleyan's production, directed by Assistant Professor of the Practice in Theater Edward Torres, educates about difference and offers a human voice to sound the call of remembrance, compassion, and communal faith.
Ensemble Theater
What happens when we put someone else's story into our own mouths, amplify it on stage, and attempt to fill in the gaps with our own speculative, cacophonous desires? The Theater Department presents two collaborative works during the 2019-2020 season: The Laramie Project this fall, and The Method Gun by Rude Mechs in spring 2020. Both plays are ensemble creations, culled from interviews or historical documents, that tell the stories of absence and departure; of loss, survival, and the way a community attempts to make meaning with what is left.
RELATED EVENT
Talk It Out: The Laramie Project - Centering Queer Voices: Documenting Trauma and Resilience
Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 4:30pm
Downey House Lounge, 294 High Street, Middletown
FREE! Refreshments will be served.
Featuring guest artist Leigh Fondakowski, head writer and member of the original production team of the Tectonic Theater Project for "The Laramie Project;" Professor of English and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Christina Crosby; Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater Calvin Anderson; Nathan Pugh '21; and Visiting Instructor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Michelle Memran.
Image: Beatrix Zander '23 and Matt Grimaldi '21. Photo by Richard Marinelli.