The Laramie Project
by Moises Kaufman
List Price:
Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $7.01 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.97 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Moises KaufmanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-11
ISBN: 0375727191
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Laramie Project
Book Review: A Remarkable Theatrical Piece; A Powerful Statement
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Summary of The Laramie Project
On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard?s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie the event was deeply personal, and it?s they we hear in this stunningly effective theater piece, a deeply complex portrait of a community.Theater Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Theater Books
Looking Out: Perspectives on Dance and Criticism in a Multicultural WorldMacmillan Pub Co; Published: 1995-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $110.69
Directors on Directing: A Source Book of the Modern Theatreby Toby Cole, Helen Krich Chinoy
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1963-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $92.40
Price in other shops:
Voice and the Actorby Cicely Berry
Wiley; Published: 1991-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
A Trip to the Light Fantastic: Travels With a Mexican Circusby Katie Hickman
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.00
Who On Earth Is Tom Baker? An Autobiographyby Tom Baker
Harper Collins, 1997; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
Who on Earth Is Tom Baker?by Tom Baker
Harpercollins Audio; Published: 1997-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $133.82
Streisand: A Biographyby Anne Edwards
Little Brown & Co (T); Published: 1997-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Orton Diariesby Joe Orton
Da Capo Press; Published: 1996-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.48
Price in other shops:
Understanding Movies (12th Edition)by Louis Giannetti
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 2010-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $74.98
Price in other shops:
The Theater Experience Tenth Editionby Edwin Wilson
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages; Published: 2005-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.00
Similar Books and other products
The Vagina Monologuesby Eve Ensler
Villard; Published: 2007-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops:
Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Educationby Murray Sperber
Holt Paperbacks; Published: 2001-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.45
Price in other shops:
Fencesby August Wilson
Samuel French, Inc.; Published: 2010-02-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.79
Price in other shops:
Dog Lady and The Cuban Swimmer.by Milcha Sanchez-Scott, Milcha Sanchez-Scott
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; Published: 1998-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.20
Price in other shops:
Rabbit Hole - Acting Editionby David Lindsay-Abaire
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; Published: 2006-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.23
Price in other shops:
Fat Pig: A Playby Neil LaBute
Faber & Faber; Published: 2004-11-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.12
Price in other shops:
M. Butterfly.by David Henry Hwang, David Henry Hwang
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; Published: 1998-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Part One: Millennium Approaches Part Two: Perestroikaby Tony Kushner
Theatre Communications Group; Published: 2003-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.87
Price in other shops:
How I Learned to Drive - Acting Editionby Paula Vogel, Paula Vogel
Dramatists Play Service; Published: 1997-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Fencesby August Wilson
Plume; Published: 1986-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops: