Jewel Box Theatre

​On October 6, 1998, gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death. Six days later Matthew Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft. Collins, Colorado. On November 14th, 1998, ten members of Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, and conducted interviews with the people of the town. Over the next year, the company returned to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews. These texts became the basis for the play The Laramie Project. Ten years later on September 12th, 2008, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the murder. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted us in the original play, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard. THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER is a bold new work, which asks the question, "How does society write its own history?"

 “The Laramie Project: Ten Years On”   This is an updated sequel to” The Laramie Project”, the true story of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard and the effect of the city of Laramie told through the words of the citizens. The writers returned to Laramie in 2008 and found the town still wrestling with the legacy and its place in history. JBT Founder, Sondra Ashton directed in 2003. This show created a huge outpouring of community support including a rally and parade sponsored by local civil rights & LGBTQ groups. Ashton was quoted in the Kitsap Sun, “It’s a play about people. It’s about all kinds of people. It’s about people’s fears and it’s also about their hope. And it’s about a lot of hope and compassion.”  The theater received The Kitsap County Council for Human Rights Linda Gabriel Human Rights Award.  

Karen Hauser will direct this updated script.

The original JBT cast included: Joyce Merriman, Craig Hurt, Bronsyn Foster, Kathy Currie, Fred Nicholson, Michelle Peterson, Debbie Phares, and  Larry Blain.

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The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later was developed by the Tectonic Theater Project.

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC servicing Dramatist

Play Service collection (www.dramatists.com)