Laramie sequel scores a return season, Melbourne

Aptly coinciding with the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO – May 17), Red Stitch’s production of The Laramie Project – Ten Years Later has secured a return season Arts Centre Melbourne following the success of last year’s production at Red Stitch Actor’s Theatre.

In 1998, a young gay student, Mathew Shepard, was brutally bashed and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. One month after Shepard’s murder, members of the Tectonic Theater Project arrived in Laramie and set about conducting a series of interviews that formed the basis of The Laramie Project (1999) – a verbatim theatre piece which became one of the most performed plays of the last decade.

Nearly 10 years later, the creators returned to Laramie with the intention of writing a short epilogue to the original play, but what they ended up with was a brand new stand alone work which highlights a community wrestling with stigma, denial and social change.

Directed by 2010 Green Room Award winner Gary Abrahams, The Laramie Project – Ten Years Later features Red Stitch ensemble members David Whiteley, Ella Caldwell and Brett Ludeman alongside special guest actors, Paul Ashcroft, Terry Camilleri, Hester Van der Vyver, and Rosie Traynor.

The Laramie Project – Ten Years Later includes interviews with Shepard’s mother, his killers and follow-up interviews with many Laramie residents from the original work.

AussieTheatre will be giving away a double pass to the show – be sure to check our giveaways section for updates this week

The Laramie Project – Ten Years Later

Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio

7.30pm, 16 – 19 May
7.30pm, 24 – 26 May

Adults $35
Concession $30
Groups 10+ $28

Written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project

To book tickets to the show, visit www.artscentremelbourne.com.au or phone 1300 182 183