Laramie Project

"This film is based on transcripts of over 200 interviews with the people of Laramie, Wyoming."--Title screens. In October 1998, 21 year-old Matthew Shepard had been found savagely beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. National media attention made his case a cause célèbre, and a month later, off Broadway writer-director Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theatre (his collaborating actors) arrived. They succeeded in interviewing a wide range of relevant persons, from those who knew Shepard or knew the accused to police, university, and hospital personnel and community members. Then they wrote a play.