The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, An Epilogue

The Paper Lantern Theatre Company of Winston-Salem organized a reading (one of over 150 readings done by theater companies all over the country) of

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.

The reading was done at the Twin City Stage this past Monday, October 12, 2009.

YES! Weekly also ran a review for the event which you can read here.

The 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming captured the nation's attention. A month after Matthew's death, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie to record how this event affected the town. From their interviews, they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which has become one of the most performed plays in America in the last decade. The company later made the play into a film for HBO. The epilogue, Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, follows up on the tragic events of 1998 and includes the first interview with Matthew's mother, as well as the first interview with his killer. It also examines the lasting effects of such a crime on this small town in America. Tectonic Theatre has invited over 150 theaters, in all 50 states and across the globe, to participate in this one-night-only event simultaneously on October 12, the anniversary of Matthew's death.

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(All photos by Kevin Davie.)

Amy da Luz, director that night and founding member of Paper Lantern Theatre Company, introduces the play.

Drew Rush center, Business Manager of Triad Stage, and Jeff West right (a sometimes actor of ours) read from the Laramie script.

(All photos by Kevin Davie.)

Our own Preston Lane also read that night as well.

At the end of the reading Molly McGinn played a wonderfully evocative song dedicated to Matthew Shepherd entitled "Scarecrow." Though the song was orginally written by Melissa Etheridge, Molly gave it her natural grit & passion and made it sound even better.

The whole night was affirmation of how telling American stories about can affect communites and the nation. Myths were debunked and voices were heard both with heartening and disheartening clarity concerning how hate crimes tear people apart and bring them together.