THE LARAMIE PROJECT

Moises Kaufman would be proud.

Victoria College at the University of Toronto has mounted a production of THE LARAMIE PROJECT this weekend, and a few of my friends are in it. I had a chance to see it tonight -- I was overwhelmed with emotion. The play has so much compassion and humanity, and when performed by actors who are as invested in the work as these were, it is a powerful and devestating experience.

The performances these undergraduate students gave were heartbreakingly vulnerable, open and honest. If any of you are in the Toronto area and are free tomorrow (Saturday) night, I urge you see this production -- PM me for more details.

Now that I've seen it done by undergraduates, I believe that THE LARAMIE PROJECT actually benefits from being a student production. Matthew Shepard and the men who killed him were in their early 20s; to watch a group of young people tell this story and portray these characters makes the piece even more resonant and powerful, especially when performed with such excrutiating honesty. If any of you are looking for a play to produce at your college or university, please do THE LARAMIE PROJECT. Its message will resonate with young people everywhere.

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Updated On: 2/6/05 at 12:06 AM

I love this show. It's amazingly poignant, and the material is definitely enhanced when performed by young people.

My college, Fordham University (Lincoln Center), is also doing the show in the Spring. That production will assuredly be tremendous, as well.

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My college is doing Laramie this week as well.

OMG, I LOVE it when schools do Laramie!

My high school did it this year, and it was AMAZING. I think its a really great show for schools to do too, 'cause it makes kids THINK. (As opposed to say, Grease... not that our production of that was bad, it just wasn't very meaningful...) Also, there's such a fascinating range of characters (if it didn't sound so cheesy, I almost would say spectrum of humanity, but it does, so I won't, lol) for students to play and delve into. I liked our high school production better than the HBO movie, and I'm sure your college's production of it is awesome as well!!!!

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I did a production of the show back in October. It's such a brilliant piece. We were fortunate enough to have some great connections to people who were from Laramie, who went for the trial, the funeral. It was incredible to hear them talk about the event and the place and the people. Good luck to all those who are going up soon-there seem to be a lot of you!

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Wizard...is that you in your pic? or Seth Green?

No, it's actually Dean Armstrong, who will be starring in a production of tick, tick...BOOM! in Toronto next week. (You might know him as Blake (?) in Queer As Folk, and also in one of the Broadway casts of Rent).

I saw THE LARAMIE PROJECT again last night (when there's good theatre, you want to catch as much of it as possible!), and went to the cast party afterwards. Everyone -- cast and crew -- felt so privileged and grateful to have worked with this material, and it honestly changed their lives. This is what theatre's about: to inspire both the audience and the performers. There's so much compassion in this play, and I hope you all consider putting it on at your college/school!

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