THE LARAMIE PROJECT to Play Wesley Arena Theatre, 5/9-11

Ten local actors are hard at work in rehearsals for The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The show will be performed at The Wesley Arena Theatre, 271 East 9th Street, Cookeville under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. as part of the day long Upper Cumberland Pride Festival celebration. Performances will continue on Thursday through Saturday, May 9, 10 & 11 also at 8:00 p.m. All tickets are $10.00 per person except for Thursday, May 9 which is a pay-what-you-can-performance. Thursday, May 9 tickets will not be sold in advance - they will only be available at the door. Tickets are currently on sale at Art a la Carte Gallery, 121 West Broad Street, Cookeville. Tickets will also be available at Upper Cumberland Pride on May 4 from 1-7 pm at Dogwood Park and at the door the night of the performances. The show produced by UC Pride, United Church of Christ and Stan Rodriquez, is an epilogue to The Laramie Project, which was performed in 2006 at the Wesley Arena Theatre also under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick.

Appearing in The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later are 10 local actors who portray over 50 characters in the show. Actors who range from veterans of the theatre to newcomers to the stage are Erica Dyer, Luke Frank, Michael Gilpatrick, Lora Lee Jones, Lindsey McReynolds, Jordon Oyston, Pamela Patton, Tanya Samples, Lisa Shinn and Mike Walsh. Pamela Patton is the only returning member from the original 2006 cast.

"I love working with both new and seasoned actors in the same cast," said director Gilpatrick, "we all learn from each other."

A month after the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which has become one of the most performed plays in America in the last decade. The company later made the play into a film for HBO. The play and the movie combined have been seen by more than 50 million people around the world.

The Laramie Project portrayed one town in America at the end of the millennium. But in doing so, it managed to capture something profoundly American, something about social injustices, about beliefs, about idiosyncrasies. It told the story of one American town at the end of the millennium. But in doing so, it talked about America as a whole. In this sense, the Laramie project has prompted dialogue, discussion and debate about a wide variety of issues and continues to transform the lives of those who participate as actors and those who sit in the audience. The epilogue builds on that. Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard, has said that "the Laramie Project is one of the most important things to come from Matthew's death, for which we are deeply grateful."

The epilogue, The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later looks at what has and has not changed in Laramie since Matthew's 1998 murder. It will also explore how people construct stories and tell history, both on an individual level and on a societal level.

Time magazine called it "A pioneering work and a powerful stage event." John Simon of New York Magazine said it was "Nothing short of stunning. Not to be missed."

For more information about "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" contact Ms. Gilpatrick at outonalimb@charter.net. For ticket information contact: Arlene Dubo at Art a la Carte at: 931.520.8155. For more information about UC Pride contact Stan Rodriquez at 931.520.4253

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