HARVARD COLLEGE

The Laramie Project

By Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater
Project

Jason Wong, Director

Hessel Yntema, Producer
Pete Kulalert, Assistant Director and Production Advisor
Truc Doan, Stage Manager
Jan Luksic, Set Designer
Lymaira Reyes, Assistant Set Designer
Paul Sawyier, Lighting Designer
Sonya Mollinger, House Manager and Assistant Lighting Designer
Moonlit Wang, Costume Designer
Samuel Stuntz, Sound Director
Karla Reyes, Support Staff
Grace Laubaucher, Set Advisor

This document contains an updated staff list (Page 1) and artistic statements from most of the staff
(Pages 2 through 8).

5/5/2008
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Jason Wong, Director:

Production Summary
On the night of October 6th, 1998, Matthew Shepard was forcefully taken to an area
outside of Laramie, Wyoming, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and left to die. Matthew passed
away a few days later from head injuries related to his beating. The Laramie Project is a very
moving and powerful docudrama that explores the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard
on the Laramie community years after the crime. The production doesn’t seek to simulate the
jarring events that happened that night. Rather, the play seeks to explore this event through the
eyes of those who were closest to Matthew, the Laramie community, and from this perspective
allow the audience to examine the circumstances surrounding Matthew’s murder.

The Laramie Project, written based on interviews with the citizens of Laramie, attempts to
piece together the sociological fabric that led to Matthew’s death. It also attempts to analyze what
has happened to this fabric after his death. In so doing, the production sheds light on the blatant
prejudices against gays, and the battle against those deeply entrenched prejudices.

Artistic Vision
The audience will be presented with two messages: First, the audience will be presented
with The Laramie Project’s exploration of prejudice, tragedy, and community. In effect, the entire
play can be said to represent the trial of the Laramie community itself and the circumstances that
led to this tragedy. Evidence is presented in the form of eyewitness accounts (the interviews), and
the audience members are allowed to analyze and decide for themselves how to respond to issues
of prejudice and equality. In effect, they are treated as the jurors in this case about a tragic event
and its effect on a community. Ultimately, when Matthew’s father asks the court to have mercy on
his son’s murderers, he is recognizing the greater importance of society’s examination of its own
prejudices. A portion of Mr. Shepard’s monologue reads, “Matt’s beating, hospitalization, and
funeral focused worldwide attention on hate. Good is coming out of evil.”

Second, many of the prejudices that this play explores are stereotypically attributed to
white people in middle and rural America. Our production will accentuate its larger multicultural
objective to emphasize the idea that stereotypes and prejudices don’t belong to any one group.
The diverse cast will help challenge the conception that the problems of any two groups of people
are unconnected. Matthew Shepard could easily have been a minority or another kind of outcast.
Additionally, the perpetrators of this crime could easily have been one of us. In this manner we
hope to underline some of what we see as the key objectives of productions such as The Laramie
Project: the desire to expose the truth and the desire to act as a medium for change.

All of the characters in this show represent real people, whether we agree with their
particular viewpoints or not. They all have their own histories, political beliefs, religions, viewpoints,
and prejudices. These characters are more complex than the typical character archetypes used in
many productions. A major goal for this production will be to emphasize character development
over complex set designs, sounds, and other theatrics. By challenging our actors to explore their
own prejudices, and each of their character’s prejudices and histories and emphasizing these
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characters with set, costume, light and sound, we hope to create complex characters that audience
members can relate with. Human nature is the major exploration of this play. Our production staff
has discussed the intensive light work relative to other productions that we will have to utilize as an
important means by which to develop the environment surrounding the actor.

The foremost goal of any production is to provide an interesting experience for the
audience. On the other hand, this production is also inextricably linked with an important analysis
of social prejudice. One of the challenges between these two objectives in a production such as this
will be to coordinate The Laramie Project’s thoughtful sociological presentation with the audience’s
conceptions of entertainment and persuasion. This is to say a great indicator of success for this
production will involve the audience not merely viewing the play, but also responding and reacting
to it. We hope that by breaking the fourth wall, the audience will become less passive and more
engaged in analyzing the issues in this play. This production isn’t meant to just be another night at
the theater.

Why the Agassiz

After careful consideration of the various performances spaces and venues available at
Harvard, we have determined that the Agassiz is one of our top two choices for this production.
The Agassiz is an important theater space for us for many reasons: primarily, we believe that the
Agassiz offers us a balance of both intimacy and separation with the audience. Members of our
production staff with history in the Agassiz have indicated that it’s relatively simple and quick to get
actors in position in the audience. The proscenium offers us an area exclusively for the actors to
create the environment. Our ability to intermingle with the audience will allow us to bring the
stage environment to them. It will be important for us to break down the fourth wall that exists
between the audience and a traditional proscenium stage. Our actors will be able to sit with the
audience in empty seats and/or next to them in the stairways for important scenes such as the
funeral scene, and the singing of Amazing Grace. We want the audience to feel as if they are a part
of the production itself. The artistic merit of establishing a direct relationship with the audience will
allow us to help the audience take ownership of the play we create.

Why The Laramie Project

Our project will be really meaningful for many reasons. First, the topic matter of this
production is important and different from most other productions at Harvard; it provides a
thoughtful analysis of the effects and persistence of prejudice. Secondly, it is significant to note
that we will approach Matthew Shepard’s tenth year anniversary this October, and The Laramie
Project has yet to be introduced to the Harvard community. We want to bring this story to Harvard,
and we think that its introduction here is long overdue. Finally, we hope to use this production as a
springboard for further discussion and interest into the examination of other kinds of prejudice and
discrimination. We noted earlier that “Matthew Shepard could easily have been a minority or
another kind of outcast. Additionally, the perpetrators of this crime could easily have been one of
us.” We would also like to note that prejudice and discrimination can also come in many forms, not
just with violence but also in more subtle ways. Our company hopes to add to this discussion with
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this production, and also show that art can be used in ways to heal and/or address social ills such as
prejudice, inequality, and discrimination. We sincerely believe in these ideals.

Pete Kulalert, Assistant Director and Production Advisor Statement:

When Jason approached me about The Laramie Project, I was captivated by his passion
about the play and by his determination to introduce this show to the Harvard community. The
Laramie Project, as Jason elaborated in his statement, is a powerful artistic exploration of the
notion of prejudice, tragedy, and community. This play is a great example of an artwork that, with
its aesthetic values intact, provokes the audience to look closer at the society they live in. It was a
surprise indeed as I found out later that this important theater piece has not been produced on
campus.
As an Assistant Director, I will be working closely with Jason in every rehearsal. I look
forward to learning from Jason, who has been trained as an actor and has performed in The Laramie
Project himself. My main responsibility will to help with character work and assist the actors with
transitioning from moment to moment. As there are approximately 60 characters in the show, it
would be a challenging but exciting task to help each actor portray multiple roles assigned to him or
her and help them create complex characters for each role. Each of the characters should have a
developed character history and background that helps explain their points of view in the play and
which also adds depth to each role. I will also pay close attention to the transitions throughout the
play. As an Assistant Director, I envision the play as having a Brechtian quality, propelling the
audience to look at the play from a critical point of view. Jason's idea of breaking the fourth wall in
several scenes corresponds with this notion really well as we aim for an active audience, rather than
a passive, voyeuristic one. By rendering the spectator a critical observer, we will present this
politically charged content with a defamiliarized form that would force the audience to think about
the controversial issues presented in the show and how these same and/or similar issues affect
them in real life.
I am excited to be part of this collaborative endeavor. Jason made it clear to me since our
first meeting that all the staff members are his partners, that great ideas don’t only come from
directors and that everyone will contribute artistically to the show. I am thrilled to work with our
talented team. I will also be serving as a production advisor, assisting Hess in the areas where he
might need help/advice. This October will be the ten year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death.
This important date, and the fact that we can advertise the show as the Harvard premiere of The
Laramie Project would attract interest not only from the Harvard community, but the Cambridge
and Boston community at large. We plan to publicize the show in academic departments and
organizations, both at Harvard and outside Harvard, that are concerned about prejudice/stereotype
issues, human rights, and gender studies and sexuality.

Hessel Yntema, IV, Producer:

The possibility of producing The Laramie Project at Harvard is genuine pleasure. First, The
Laramie Project is a very moving script, all the more moving because it is so authentic and
real. When we looked at the script, we were trying to determine what would make this docudrama
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different form a film documentary. The answer became astoundingly simple, its intimacy. This
aspect of the production is something that excited me tremendously and many others that have
pledged support as well.

It was mentioned in the director's statement that, "Matthew Shepard could easily have
been a minority or another kind of outcast." This serves to aid in many aspects of production. For
staffing, many groups such as TEATRO! and BlackCAST have already volunteered to help with
advertising, filling production staff spots, and other aspects of production. I also believe that the
very topic discussed in this show will receive discussion around campus without too much
prompting. We will definitely focus on and outreach within and around the Harvard community,
and we believe we can definitely attract audiences with this kind of production.

The Laramie Project leaves open the possibility of different grant opportunities that we wish
to consider. We will be applying to many and in a broad range. All of these we will hopefully put
into having a greater quality production for the audience that leads to a more authentic and
immersive experience.

Thank you very much, and I look forward to meeting with you.

Truc Doan, Stage Manager:

I am interested in being a stage manager for The Laramie Project. Although I don't have much
experience, I am willing to help the production in whatever way I can. Having read the play in High
School, I was especially fascinated with the multiple reactions to the crime against Matthew
Shepard. Moises Kaufman's play rotates around and provides further dimensions to an incident
made flat through media frenzy. The consequences of Matthew Shepard's murder wrestles in the
play with the implications it makes about our society. I want to help bring the vision of the
producers and director as much to the forefront in this regard as possible.
I will be stage managing for Diana Son's Stop Kiss in the Loeb Ex in early October of next Fall
as well.
Experience: (not previously included)
A Little Night Yiddish - Stage Manager - Hillel
ARTS FIRST - Stage Manager - Sanders Theatre
Vagina Monologues - Director - Agassiz Theatre
Southeast Asia Night - Publicity and MC - Leverett Dining Hall
Sweeney Todd - Spot Op – Mainstage

Paul Sawyier, Lighting Designer:

An effective lighting design for The Laramie Project requires good color choice to create
appropriate mood during and within each moment while still keeping the show’s quality of being an
“[A]ctor driven event” as written in the About the Staging section of the script. To that end, while
there will be light changes within certain moments when mood changes as well as between
different ones, such changes will be subtle and gradual. For example, in “The Fireside,” when the
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description changes from the Fireside bar and Matthew Sheppard to his kidnapping, the wash on
stage will dim somewhat and change from a deep amber to a dull red/orange. In general, the mood
of the show and corresponding wash changes from neutral or amusing (light amber/yellow) to
angry/violent (dull red) or somber (deep blue). For long or particularly dramatic monologues, a
noticeable but decently diffused spot will be on the speaker, such as Dr. Cantway’s monologue at
the end of Act I, Aaron Kreifel’s monologue in “Finding Matthew Sheppard,” or Dennis Sheppard’s
monologue in “Dennis Sheppard’s Statement.” In addition, during “The Gem City of the Plains,”
since reports will enter the house and be among the audience as they give their lines and questions,
the house lights will come on to about 25% for the audience members further from the reporters to
be able to see them, but only after they start shouting. In the end, however, the most important
aspect of my design for The Laramie Project will be ensuring that the various washes, light changes
and effects will be distinctive, unobtrusive and effective at establishing the mood of the show and
heightening its overall reality and drama.

Jan Luksic, Set Designer:

The Laramie Project consists of a compilation of separate individual stories to create one.
The separate stories – the interviews, all overlap to create a network of impressions, which
eventually create the one impression onto the spectator. The interviews create the story and the
narrative substance is crucial for The Laramie Project. Thus, in the performance, we will, as a team
of authors responsible for the particular artistic expression (director, actors, lighting, set design,
costumes, etc.) work together to create a) the IMPRESSION, not necessarily a recreation of certain
impressions appearing in the play itself, but rather an impression as such by establishing a
spectacular images out of the minimalist design to “strike” the audience.

The second goal I have as a set designer is to not to let the set as such get into the way of
the performance – of the story. Instead, it has to work together with a story to facilitate certain
aspects of the story and to be a part of it to create the variety of motives present in the play. The
design will thus be strictly minimalist: mainly consisting of plain, non-defining chairs as an element
of the set, as well as an element of the stage as such – not pretending to be a negation of what it
really is. Chairs will be seemingly randomly arranged across the stage area, and the actors will sit on
them, rising when someone is to narrate its interview. When such moment happens, the setting
would have to be immediately responsive to the situation. In order for the situation to be
completely adjustable we would use projections of impressions given by certain scenes (e.g.:
funeral: crosses, graves, church – the entrance, altar, perhaps accompanied by some organ sounds).
The case will be similar with the settings of the trial (jury sitting on the sits, surrounded by a
minimal fence) and the scene when the body is found (actor just pretending to be tied to the stage,
blood projected around and onto him. Some other motives from the descriptions will also be
incorporated. At least 2, and up to 5 projectors will be used, projecting the motives behind certain
actions.

The Laramie Project gives me the possibility not just to design the set but to more wholly
co-create the artistic expression that it will give. I cannot emphasize the passion that I feel about
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this artistic possibility enough! Our team will have to work hard together to create a coherent,
smoothly flowing structure to the performance that will give both an impression to the spectator
individually, as well as it will set new, diverse questions of our society. The impressions will try to
facilitate these questions, instead of giving straight answers. It is in our own imagination that the
impressions come together to re-create the show.

Sonya Mollinger, House Manager and Lighting Assistant:

I believe that putting on The Laramie Project as a play at Harvard will bring home to Harvard
students the fact that tragedy can occur close to home, in familiar scenarios as well as unfamiliar
ones; I'm excited about trying to produce this impact through the means of theater. In house
managing: I ushered six times for The Mikado and twice for Patience, and helped out the house
manager for those shows when there was a lack of ushers. Potential conflicts: class load, Crimson
Crooners.

Sam Stuntz, Sound Director:

The sound design for The Laramie Project will be fairly limited – in keeping with the realism
and fast pacing of the show, musical underscoring will be used sparingly if at all. Additionally, since
the transitions between the plays “moments” are rapid and won’t require complicated set or
costume changes, transitional music will not be necessary. The most important and necessary bit of
music – a sung chorus of Amazing Grace – will come directly from the performers.

Sound effects will also occur sparingly, adhering to the play’s self-proclaimed “desire to
suggest, not re-create.” Effects will be used, however, to enhance several key moments in the
performance. The most important of these is a scene in which a team of news reporters floods
onstage to create an invasive “media cacophony.” In addition to the chaotic noise of the many
actors speaking over each other, several radio-quality recordings of similarly indistinct news reports
will be played over speakers at various points in the theater, some near audience seating areas.
The relative lack of pre-recorded sound up until this point will make the chaotic broadcasts
unexpected, giving the audience members a sense of the invasion of personal space felt by the
characters portrayed onstage.

Additionally, many “moments” in the show include the reading of e-mails or outside
documents, particularly a key accusatory email condemning the entire town of Laramie for the
murder of Matthew Shepherd. Several of these readings will be pre-recorded and broadcast in a
similar fashion.

Moonlit Wang, Costume Designer:

As the Costume and Props Designer of the Laramie Project, I want to bring my personal vision and
interpretation to this play.

I have always believed that clothes are not simply flashy garments to attract others’
attention, but are rather media that help convey one’s personality and attitudes. If we look around,
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we can rarely see two people wearing the same outfit, even with the same individual pieces.
Fashion is all about taking the same garments but putting them together in unique ways. Because
people have different tastes and preferences, even the smallest variations show certain characters
of the wearer. For example, a clean, pressed shirt shows that its owner is meticulous, serious and
values how other people perceive him, and a stereotypical person with such shirts would be a
businessman. If we take the same shirt and give it to a sloppy college student, the shirt would
probably be wrinkled and worn with jeans instead of dressing pants.

Similarly, costumes are used to express the personality of the characters. Similar to
choosing articles of clothing as a mean to show one’s characters, I aim to select and arrange pieces
to match and represent the stereotypical personality traits. I would focus on and exaggerate the
small variations to bring out a certain trait. For example, we can represent the sloppiness of a
character through un-tucked shirt corners and asymmetrical sleeve rolling. The costumes would be
symbols that hint to the audience the persona of the character. By using costumes as a window to
convey and shape the inner personalities of the characters in the play, we could communicate the
play’s messages to the audience more effectively.

On an even broader since, fashion represents cultures. The same sets of clothing could
bring out totally different cultural atmosphere. I had that in mind when I directed a segment in
IDENTITIES – A Charity Fashion Show. We took pieces of clothing from local American boutiques
and used them to represent the street pop culture in Asian countries. What I learned in the process
is that how but not what is the keyword in fashion. By layering and re-matching individual articles,
we successfully turned our runway into a Japanese hip-hop street. I plan to use the same agenda
for Laramie project. Since the play is set in the modern times, my focus would be representing the
unique and characteristic personality traits of the play characters through everyday clothes, but at
the same time, show the audience that these costumes are unique and illustrative and not ordinary
at all.