The Laramie Project

Thurs May 13th - Sat 15th, 8pm
Continues until 18th - 29th in The Civic Theatre, Tallaght at 8.15pm

Presented by AboutFACE

In October 1998 a twenty-one-year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay.

Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. THE LARAMIE PROJECT chronicles the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder.

The writers have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these interviews and their own experiences.
The play has now been performed worldwide to incredible response and was made into a feature film for HBO. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is a breathtaking theatrical collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable

Show Reviews

"Based on the kidnapping and murder of 21 year old student Matthew Shepherd in Laramie Wyoming in 1998, 'The Laramie Project' was presented to great emotional effect by The Love Doctor Theatre Company in the Space at the Helix. Paul Brennan's inspiring direction was fluid and almost choreographed, to present a seemless web of good casting, strong characterisation, fine performance and emotive technical skill. This production was long in emotion and duration and on opening night the structure of the presentation and the lack of guidance in the pre show announcements confused the audience as to when scenes began and ended. It should have begun at 7.30PM to accommodate public transport and the distance of the venue from the City Centre. However the audience stayed rooted to this gripping rendition for over three hours and to the reflective and inspiring discussion that ensued. This play blurred the lines between acting and realism with a power and beauty that impacted directly on the audience. The players, Hope Brown, Catherine Farrell, Charlie Kranz, Tara McKeever, Paul Nugent, Cillian O Donnachdha, Anna Olsen and Noni Stapleton were as one, presenting a multicoloured quilt of characters that always caught one's attention, and with the tiniest nuance in costume transformed and