The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later

A familiar logo was projected onscreen: a road stretches in the horizon, accompanied by a sign informing us of the population and elevation of Laramie, Wyoming. But it wasn’t time for a revival of “The Laramie Project,” though that wouldn’t necessarily be unwelcome. Instead, the play’s creators were ready to unveil their “epilogue” to the play, titled “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.” But this was not to be just a bookend or short addition to the play. Though created in the same style of documentary theater with many of the same characters as before, this was another two-act play entirely about the creators’ return to Laramie, Wyoming a decade after their first trip.

Though hundreds of theaters across the country were performing the play in separate productions, about 150 of them were connected by Internet to Lincoln Center to a pre-show hosted by Glenn Close and a post-show talkback, where most of the questions were received by Tweets. (Moises Kaufman informed us that he had never “twitted” before.)

Glenn Close described the event as “an experiment unprecedented in interactivity” that showed how theater can “participate in a national dialogue.” She reminded us that Monday night, October 11, 2009, marked the 11-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death. Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother, received a standing ovation (one of several given throughout the evening) upon entering the stage, noting "I'm just doing what mothers do when you hurt their children."

Once the Internet feed was turned off, Moises Kaufman proceeded to introduce the original eight-member cast of “The Laramie Project,” which would be performing the new work at Lincoln Center that night.

The work began by describing the current economic boom in Laramie, thanks to a revitalized energy industry: new hotels, a Super Walmart, mini malls, even a Chiles restaurant. “My gut is Laramie is a somewhat better place,” one resident says. “They are still teaching their children the same thing,” replies another. It’s noted that the fence where Matthew Shepard was beaten has been taken down, mainly because it had turned into an infamous tourist attraction. In other words, “it’s what we’re famous for.”

Though the play is bookended by the narrative of the team returning to Laramie, it is mainly a cultural dialogue and debate – even more so than the original “Laramie Project.” It questions what change, if any, has occurred in Laramie. What if the fact that no hate crime legislation has been passed, and that professors at the University of Wyoming are still denied health insurance coverage for their domestic partners? Should groups like the Tectonic Theater Project still be exploring the incident or should we just let it slide into the past and move on? “It’s time to let the boy go,” says one interviewee.

Most importantly, the play observes the desire by many in Laramie to clean up and rewrite history through the claim that the Matthew Shepard incident was not a hate crime, but rather “a drug deal gone bad.” It refers to a “20/20” episode that supported this theory through supposedly inaccurate assumptions. What should be done when facts turn into folklore? This has already occurred in our culture with Holocaust deniers.

Unlike the original play, the sequel observes the writers interviewing Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, the imprisoned murderers of Matthew Shepard. They display completely different reactions to the incident. Henderson is ashamed of himself and claims that McKinney was the driving force behind the brutal crime. “I wanted it to stop, make it go away…Let’s say I tried to stop him, but I didn’t try enough. I’m still trying to figure out why I did what I did.” On the other hand, McKinney says that “as far as Matt is concerned, I don’t have any remorse…Matthew Shepard needed killing.”

On the whole, the new play speaks with just as much urgency, rage and relevance as in the original play. The reading worked particularly well, as the play is inherently in a presentational format. But I would like to see a fully-staged production in the future. Moises Kaufman noted that the current intent is to perform both plays in repertory, though no specific details were given.

The half-hour-long talkback session began immediately following the performance, with not even a pause in between that might have allowed some audience members to sneak out. Topics of discussion included the Matthew Shepard Act, the march for equal rights in Washington, DC that took place on Sunday, and the recent beating of a gay teen in College Point, Queens.
One audience member asked Moises Kaufman whether there will be another “Laramie” sequel in ten years. He replied, “can we finish tonight?”