 2008-11-13 - And Still Nothing Is Changed
I read this book and still have a hard time believing nothing has changed since this killing has taken place. If you say you are not homophobic than read this book and you will find that we all are in one way or another. Maybe not as bad as those involved in the killing but we are all a little. I believe this book and the DVD of the same name should be required reading in all Middle and High Schools.
2008-10-25 - Worhty Read prior to the DVD
I bought this to read prior to watching the DVD of the Laramie Project, to compare, and was glad I did. It carry's as much if not more of the drama and weightiness of the subject matter, the killing of Matthew Shepard in 1998.
An easy and quick read, it helped me identify the characters later on the DVD, and though in stage format, doesn;t read like a novel. I finsihed it in one afternoon, and if this horrific incident still concerns you, this is a good way to understand how it affected so many in a sparsly populated "city" in a huge mostly unpopulated state.
Hate knows no boundaries, but how it affected Laramie, is well done with an unusual idea. It took great courage to do this project, and shouold be more widely read, if not required reading, for schools.
2007-11-10 - A Remarkable Theatrical Piece; A Powerful Statement
Matthew Shepard was about two months short of his twenty-second birth when he was robbed, beaten, tied to a fence post and left to die in a rural area of Wyoming. The man who found him at first thought he was a scarecrow. Rushed to Poudre Valley Hospital at Fort Collins, he died on 12 October 1998--and when Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney were arrested for the crime they resorted to a defense known as "gay panic." Matthew Shepherd had propositioned them, they said, and they were so horrified that they killed him in response.
The gay community and numerous civil rights watchdog groups were outraged by the defense, and as more and more facts came to light it seemed that the crime was somewhat more complicated than Henderson and McKinney wanted the public to know. Witnesses stated that Henderson and McKinney had specifically targeted Shepherd because he was gay. After much legal wrangling, Henderson pled guilty and testified against McKinney, who was convicted; after still more legal wrangling, and at the request of Shepherd's parents, McKinney escaped the death penalty but has no chance of parole.
The case made headlines from end of the United States to the other and prompted numerous calls for Hate Crimes legislation, which had long been stalled both at the state and federal level. And in the midst of the confusion, chaos, and controversy, Moises Kaufman and the members of The Tectonic Theatre Project arrived on the scene, interviewing more than two hundred people about their thoughts and feelings on the case. These were shaped into THE LARAMIE PROJECT, a drama that debuted in 2000 and which has since shocked, impressed, and deeply moved audiences from coast to coast.
Playscripts are not really intended to be read; they are intended to be performed, and there can be a significant difference between how a script and how it plays. This is particularly true of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, which doesn't consist of scenes or acts but of "moments"--bits and pieces of monologue and dialogue and staging that non-play-readers will likely find difficult to envision. When performed, all those bits and pieces become like tiles in a mosaic: they may seem to mean different things individually, but when performed one right after another they become a unified whole.
Perhaps the single most impressive thing about THE LARAMIE PROJECT is its refusal to "take sides." The play presents its characters and their words with commenting in favor of them or against them; you are instead allowed to interpret for yourself. The result is uniquely powerful. Strongly recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
2007-10-30 - Controversial?
We purchased this play because my son's High School principal decided not to allow the theater teacher to put it on at his school without even bothering to read the play before making this decision!!! Moreover, the principal essentially threatened to fire the teacher if the issue was pursued. We wanted to share this play with as many people as possible after that incident and so have been loaning it to friends, relatives, other teachers, anyone willing to read it. It is truly an important work, putting a human face on the people of Laramie, Wyoming. What happened there could happen anywhere, and we not only can't, but shouldn't, hide these difficult truths.
 2007-03-26 - Different kind of drama
Based on the "Structural drama" we got a different option to see the incredible notes compiled after several interviews at Laramies' residents who was shock (as the rest of the world) for Matthew Shepards' case. I loved it.
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