LARAMIE, 10 YEARS LATER: Actors Express & Alliance Theatre Host Atlanta Reading, 10/12

 

Actor's Express partners with the ALLIANCE THEATRE to bring Atlanta audiences a staged reading of a powerful new play,The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (An Epilogue). Directed by Actor's Express Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, the special event takes place on the Alliance's Hertz Stage Monday, October 12, the 11th anniversary of the brutal murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard.

More than 100 other theatres worldwide will simultaneously present staged interactive readings of the story of a community reexamining itself in the wake of a tragedy, more than 10 years later. In addition to the readings, there will be a live online discussion where participants can upload videos, pictures, blog, and even share their own stories about the play. The staged reading is presented free of charge. Tickets are available through the Woodruff Arts Center Box Office at alliancetheatre.org or 404.733.5000.

The original play, The Laramie Project, is the mastermind of Tectonic Theater Project, a company out of New York City. Shortly after the murder of Matthew Shepard back in October 1998, Moisés Kaufman, founder and artistic director of Tectonic Theatre Project, along with nine other company members, traveled to Laramie, Wyoming and started interviewing the townspeople there. With 200 interviews and a year and a half worth of work, The Laramie Project was brought to life, debuting in Denver in 2000.

Actor's Express produced the Atlanta premiere of The Laramie Project, opening the show on September 11, 2001, a day that holds its own grand-historic tragedy. Directed by Claudia Zelevansky, the show ran until October 18th. The ALLIANCE THEATRE then presented the original Actor's Express production on the Hertz Stage two years later as part of the City Series. By collaborating with the ALLIANCE THEATRE again to present The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (An Epilogue), the work comes full circle.

"Actor's Express is proud to have produced the Laramie Project in 2001 and we are thrilled to work with the ALLIANCE THEATRE presenting this Epilogue. The play's message of community and tolerance are as timely now as a decade ago when Matthew Shepard was murdered," Ashley says.

The tragic death of Matthew Shepard exposed hate crimes motivated by homophobia on a national level. What makes the play so powerful is that the audience will realize if such a horrific event can occur in small town Wyoming, it can happen anywhere in America.
About Actor's Express

Since 1988 Actor's Express has offered original voices and new perspectives that reflect Atlanta's diverse and evolving community. Recognized as one of the most remarkable and daring theatre companies in the Southeast, Actors Express has been cited as "the city's most vital theatrical venue" (Creative Loafing) and continues to fill an important niche in Atlanta's rich arts community as a place for high quality theatre and theatre education.

Under the artistic direction of Freddie Ashley, the theatre strives to nurture the next generation of playwrights through workshops, readings, and full productions of new plays; to enhance Atlanta's artistic community through theatre training; to catalyze dialogue essential to the vitality of our city and to enhance Atlanta's reputation nationally as a thriving center for live performance.

Major funding for Actor's Express is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council. This program is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly. GCA is a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Actor's Express programming is also supported in part by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs.
About ALLIANCE THEATRE

Now in its 41st season, Atlanta's nationally acclaimed ALLIANCE THEATRE, recipient of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, is the leading professional resident theatre of the Southeast, creating the powerful experience of shared theatre for diverse people on two stages for youth and adult audiences.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Managing Director Thomas Pechar, the ALLIANCE THEATRE is a national theatre with a local address, reaching out annually to almost 200,000 patrons and members of the community. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance launched three Tony Award-winning hits to Broadway: Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida and Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo. And, in a rare event for a regional theatre, it originated the national tour of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

The theatre has premiered 60 works including adaptations of Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky. Further evidence of the Alliance's commitment to new work is found in its nationally recognized Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, a cutting-edge program introducing student playwrights to professional networks while producing the world premiere of the winning student's work. The ALLIANCE THEATRE also offers extensive education and outreach programs such as the Institute for Educators and the Collision Project for high school students. The Alliance continuously brings Atlanta the finest talent and finest art-proving once again that the Alliance is where great theatre lives. 404.733.4650 or www.alliancetheatre.org

The ALLIANCE THEATRE is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which also includes the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse.

 

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