"The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" at The Seattle Rep

Last night, as part of the Rep's New Play Program and in conjunction with a more global event, The Seattle Rep presented a one night only staged reading of "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later".  Nearly 500 people were in attendance to this free reading of the play written by members of the Tectonic Theater Project, Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Piertotti and Steven Belber.  

The play is a follow up to Kaufman's "The Laramie Project" which chronicles the lives, attitudes and events of rural Laramie, Wyoming surrounding the brutal murder of gay student, Matthew Shepard through interviews the authors made with residents of the small town.  The event gained national attention when it was discovered that the perpetrators pretended to befriend Shepard in a local bar and then drove him out to a remote field where they tortured and beat him while tied to a fence post and left him there for dead.  Shepard remained tied to the post for 18 hours before a local farmer discovered him.  He was alive but in coma and was treated for 6 days before he finally passed away on October 12^th, 1998.  

"The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" is a collection of interviews of the residents of the town (including the perpetrators of the crime) by the same people from the original play who went back to the town ten years after the murder to see what, if anything, had changed in Laramie due to the tragedy.  Kaufman and the other interviewers were shocked to discover that many of the residents of Laramie now denied that the crime had anything to do with Shepard's sexuality but that it was a drug related robbery that went too far.  Even though the court transcripts show that the murderers Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson (who are each now serving two consecutive life sentences in prison) were clearly motivated by their hatred of homosexuals.  The play is a stunning portrayal of the residents of a small town's attempt at moving on from a horrific event either through attempting to ensure nothing like this ever happens again or in many cases, glossing over the facts in an effort to say the event never happened at all. 

The more global aspect of this event came in that the Tectonic Theater Project arranged readings like the one at the Rep in over 100 theaters around the world including all 50 states, Spain, Hong Kong and Australia all on the same night, October 12^th, 2009 (the anniversary of Shepard's death).  Kaufmann himself attended the reading at Lincoln Center in New York. 

"Moisés Kaufman approached me and asked that Seattle Rep present one of these readings," said Producing Artistic Director Jerry Manning. "I am deeply honored to be able to premiere this work in Seattle."  Manning directed the reading himself featuring stunning performances by wonderful local actors Ian Bell, Suzanne Bouchard, Troy Fischnaller, Nick Garrison, Ken Grantham, Gretchen Krich, Marianne Owen, Sarah Rudinoff and Robertson Witmer.  I was particularly moved by the performances of Garrison and Fischnaller as they portrayed the murderers Henderson and McKinney in their interviews.

The result was a stirring, poignant and thought provoking look inside a small town as they move on from an event that has labeled their town forever.  But as was pointed out in the play and in the following question and answer period last night, events like this don't only happen in small rural communities.  They happen in big cities as well like New York, Los Angeles and yes, even Seattle.  And that's why plays like this are so important.  To remind us that this is still a problem and hopefully entice our government to take action to prevent things like this from happening in the future.

For more information on the Tectonic Theater Project and the online community they created surrounding "The Laramie Project" and last night's event, visit them online at www.tectonictheaterproject.org.

For more information on The Seattle Rep's New Play Program which will continue to have further readings of new works throughout the season, visit them online at www.seattlerep.org/Plays/NewWork.

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