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Kimberly Slover
Director, College Communications
(603) 526-3647
NEW LONDON, N.H., April 14, 2006 – Colby-Sawyer College's spring production of “The Laramie Project” by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project opens Wednesday, April 26, at 8 p.m. and runs for three nights in the Sawyer Fine Arts Center.
The play tells the story of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, who was discovered bound to a fence in the hills outside Laramie, Wyoming, on Oct. 7, 1998, savagely beaten and left to die. Shepard's death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of Laramie the event became deeply personal. “The Laramie Project” chronicles the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder.
Members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. From these interviews as well as their own experiences, project members constructed a striking theatrical experience.
Communications studies senior Jaime Marcus chose to direct the play as her senior Capstone project because she thinks the issues it raises are important to address on a college campus. “It's something people need to see,” she says. “This play is important to a lot of people, and I wanted the audience to take something away from it, to be more open to different lifestyles and to learn to listen to a variety of viewpoints even if they do not agree.”
Twelve students and faculty will play a combination of more than sixty characters. The cast includes Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Jerry Bliss, as well as students Sarah Hayes, Hollie Quigley, Vivienne Brand, Ashley Goulter, Jimmy Giddings, Bethany Rice, Sarah Murray, Adrian Azodi, Will Peters, Joe Collins and Kristiina DiGesu.
Tickets will be $10 for adults, and $5 for students, or free with a Colby-Sawyer I.D. Tickets can be put on reserve by contacting the Colby-Sawyer box office at (603) 526-3670.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students from 26 states and six foreign countries learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience.
