Excerpt from BroadwayWorld
Wright State Theatre will present the true-life drama, The Laramie Project, Feb.17-26, in the intimate Herbst Theatre.
Based on interviews conducted by director Moises Kaufman and The Tectonic Theatre Project in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard (a young gay man in Laramie, Wyoming), this play takes the actual words of members of that community and weaves a searing portrait of a small Western town coming to grips with these horrifying events.
Director Josh Aaron McCabe guides a company of eight student actors as they portray dozens of roles, moving fluidly from one identity to the next in simple and dramatically transformative ways.
Wright State Theatre is presenting this on the 25th anniversary of Mr. Shepard’s hate-fueled murder, an event that galvanized America and prompted an urgent reckoning with attitudes about members of the LGBTQ community. The production is supported by several university and Dayton area organizations: Wright State University's LGBTQA Center, The Rubi Girls and The Muse Machine have all offered production support.
Muse Machine teachers will attend a special performance that is followed by a discussion with a current member of The Tectonic Theatre Project, and Wright State's LGBTQA Center is supporting that event, as well as an upcoming symposium later this term.
As part of the School of Fine and Performing Arts examination of artist responses to this hate crime, Wright State's Choral Music Program is presenting, "Considering Matthew Shepard," by Craig Hella Johnson on March 26 in Wright State's Schuster Hall.
