NIC to present 'The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later'
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 11 years, 8 months AGO
<p>Pictured are NIC students Jonathan Breltkreutz, left, and Patrick O'Farrell preparing for their roles in the play "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later."</p>
<p>Pictured are NIC students in dress rehearsal for the play "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later." The students are, from left Kate Taylor, Loretta Underwood, and Megan Curran.</p>
The North Idaho College Theatre Department is presenting "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" at 7:30 p.m., April 17-19 and April 24-26, in Boswell Hall Schuler Performing Arts Center.
It has been 10 years since the creation of "The Laramie Project," a play that examines the effect the 1998 killing of Matthew Shepard - a murder motivated by homophobia that gained widespread national attention - has had on the community of Laramie, Wyo.
Now, a decade later, Moiss Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project decided to follow up and explore the long-term effects of the Shepard murder on the people of Laramie.
They expected to create a short epilogue to be used with "The Laramie Project," but what they found was a story complex enough that the epilogue became a full-length play.
The play documents the attempts at rewriting the history of the murder. Eight actors play the roles of the various people interviewed, whose words serve as the dialogue for this play. Like "The Laramie Project," no words are fictional - all come directly from interviews or from court or police records.
"This is a powerful play that reminds us to respect the dignity of all members in our community," states a college press release.
There will be talk-backs with the audience and company following the play on April 18, 19 and 25. All of these events are free and open to the public.
The cast includes NIC students Jason Burdette, Megan Curran, Patrick O'Farrell, Patric Schwaab, Katie Taylor and Sam Williamson. Also included in the cast are former NIC students Jonathan Breitkreutz, Lindsay Teter and Loretta Underwood. Breitkreutz and Underwood were in NIC's production of "The Laramie Project" in 2010.
NIC's 2010 production prompted a visit to Coeur d'Alene by members of the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, who picketed the college campus and area high schools.
The play is intended for mature audiences. Individuals are asked to refrain from bringing infants to the performances, and there will be no late seating.