..more about..

^{Ethnodrama / Ethnotheatre}

Ethnodrama is a modern theatrical influence based in reality—it fuses elements of documentary with narrative, in order to portray an issue or event usually of social or political import. The Laramie Project employs many of the rhetorical devices of ethnodrama, as well as newspaper theatre, a subcategory of ethnodrama. In this vein, The Laramie Project takes all of its dialogue from candid interviews, as well as media releases and news pieces. It is as informative as it is compelling, and it achieves its goal of truthfully portraying the people of a small American town, while simultaneously providing an unbiased account of one of the most controversial and influential media events of the 1990’s and beyond.

Sensing the impending significance of the Matthew Shepard case, the New York-based Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie several times in order to document the event during and after the height of the media frenzy surrounding it. The Laramie Project is the product of their work, and it is generally considered to be one of the most important contributions to the contemporary Western theatrical canon.

While Matthew sacrificed that night in Laramie, his actions and bravery led to the global ripple effect that would incontrovertibly change the world for ensuing generations. 

TECTONIC THEATER PROJECT

Tectonic Theatre Project is an award-winning company whose plays have been performed around the world.  The company is dedicated to developing innovative works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering an artistic dialogue with our audiences on the social, political and human issues that affect us all.  In service to this goal, Tectonic supports readings, workshops, and full theatrical productions, as well as training for students around the country in our play-making techniques.

Tectonic Theater Project was founded in 1991 by Moisés Kaufman and Jeffrey LaHoste.  Tectonic refers to the art and science of structure and was chosen to emphasize the company's interest in construction-- how things are made, and how they might be made differently.

Its groundbreaking plays, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, and I am my own wife, have sparked national discourse about their subjects and have inspired artists and audiences worldwide.  

In the early years of Tectonic, the company staged works by writers who were testing the boundaries of the theatrical form:  Samuel Beckett, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Sophie Treadwell and Naomi Iizuka.  in time, however, Kaufman realized that in order to be rigorous about exploring theatrical form, the company had to deal with the issue of text.  Thus, he set about writing his first play, Gross Indecency, based on transcripts, biographies, letters and other found materials about the life and work of Oscar Wilde.

 Tectonic followed Gross Indecency with another bold experiment in form: THE LARAMIE PROJECT.  One month after the murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, Kaufman and ten company members traveled to Laramie, Wyoming to interview people in the town torn apart by the crime.  The play forged from these interviews was created collaboratively by the members of the company over a long workshop process in which participants were encouraged to operate outside their area of specialization.  Thus, actors and designers became writers and dramaturges, directors became designers and actors, and the company uncovered a new way of creating a theatrical event.

Tectonic continues to employ these techniques in creating some of the most unique and innovative works on the American stage.  

^{THE LARAMIE PROJECT}

In October 1998 Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.  Five weeks later, Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town, company members' own journal entries and published news reports.

From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, a chronicle of the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder.  It is divided into three acts, and eight actors portray more than sixty characters in a series of short scenes.

Ten years after Shepard's murder, members of the Tectonic Theater Project returned to Laramie to conduct follow-up interviews with residents featured in the play. Those interviews were turned into a companion piece, entitled The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. The Laramie project is one of the most performed plays in America today.

The hate crime committed against Matthew Shepard in Laramie generated a worldwide response in support of social and legal equality, regardless of sexual orientation. While the perpetrators, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were convicted and imprisoned for their actions, their crime was not categorized as one fueled by hate, mainly due to insufficient legislation at a Federal level, as well as in the state of Wyoming.

However, more than a decade after their sentencing, U.S. Congress passed the controversial Matthew Shepard Act into legislation on October 22^nd, 2009, and it was signed by President Barack Obama into law on October 28^th of that same year. It expands the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation nationwide.