85 pages • 2 hours read
Moises KaufmanThe Laramie Project
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
The Laramie Project
- Genre: Nonfiction; docudrama
- Originally Published: 2001
- Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; College/Adult
- Structure/Length: 3 acts; approximately 110 pages; approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes of running time
- Protagonist/Central Conflict: The play is set in the town of Laramie, Wyoming. It does not have a single protagonist, as it is a series of interviews with residents of Laramie. The conflict centers around the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay university student, and the community’s subsequent grappling with and reactions to the hate crime, as well as the intense national media attention it brought.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Contains hate crime depiction; anti-gay bias; strong derogatory language and anti-gay slurs; intense emotional content
Moisés Kaufman, Author
- Bio: Born 1963; grew up in Caracas, Venezuela; moved to New York City to study theater; co-founded the Tectonic Theatre Project; deals with social themes and incorporates elements of research and real-life events in his work; received the National Medal of Arts in 2016; known as an influential LGBTQ+ artist and activist
- Other Works: Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (1997); 33 Variations (2007); The Tallest Tree in the Forest (2014); Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Jazz Musical (2016)
- Awards: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play (2001); Matthew Shepard Foundation’s “Making a Difference” Award for The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (2009)
