This play has become far more than a staged performance. As the title indicates it is a project. One aimed at combatting homophobia and bring awareness to the reality of hate crimes perpetrated against the gay community. The Tectonic Theatre Project created a narrative based on actual interviews with people from the community where Matthew Shepard was murdered, as well as news reports and the journal entries of the company members who conducted the interviews.
What came forth from this project was the ability to hold the weight of the reality of our community life in Wyoming in ones heart. And to understand hatred from a completely new perspective in order to begin to reason that the motivation for violent crimes and murders many times is based on hatred that comes from the fear of what is unknown. The Laramie Project became a call for justice through truth. The performance of this play has since inspired education and initiatives to combat homophobia that has spread across America and to the United Kingdom.
This play is impactful because a group of people took the time to go against the commerce mentality of the United States and decided to explore the realities of homophobia in order to find answers for how we can move forward together. This play did not seek to demonize but rather portray real people's actions, their feelings, and especially the pain that can permeate a society because of ignorance rather than truth.
