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The Western Stage Opens 2008 Season with Compelling Docudrama The Laramie Project

The Western Stage opens the 2008 Season with the compelling docudrama The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project. Based on over 200 interviews collected after the brutal murder of Mathew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, The Laramie Project is a groundbreaking theatrical collage that deals with the impact of a hate crime on a small American town. In the Studio Theater, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center. Performances are June 6 – 29, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at westernstage.com or by calling the Ticket Office at (831) 375-2111/(831) 755-6816. Tickets are $20 Adults and $17 Jr./Sr./Mil. (114 word PSA)

Salinas, CA — April 29, 2008

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 in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised and battered body was not discovered until the next day. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was assaulted because he was gay. The crime instantly grabbed national and international media attention. As the entire world watched, Matthew fought for his life in an area hospital: he died several days later. 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. The company conducted more than 200 interviews with people directly connected to the case as well as citizens of Laramie without a direct connection. The resulting play is not only a powerful vigil honoring Matthew Shepard, but a fascinating kaleidoscope of perspectives on homosexuality and tolerance that is thought-provoking and at times deeply moving. 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.

The Western Stage (TWS) is proud to open the 2008 season with this groundbreaking docudrama.

The Laramie Project is directed by Jon Patrick Selover, Artistic Director of The Western Stage (The Threepenny Opera, 2007; Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 2006). Assisting him with a cast of 20+ actors are members of TWS artistic staff: Susanne Burns, Melissa Chin Parker, Dawn Flood, Jeffery T. Heyer and Jeff McGrath.

The Laramie Project plays in the Studio Theater, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center. Performances are June 6 – 29, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased online at westernstage.com or by calling the Ticket Office at (831) 375-2111/(831) 755-6816. Tickets are $20 Adults and $17 Jr./Sr./Mil. Season subscriptions are still available and offer the best bargain, saving patrons up to 42% off the single ticket price.