"LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER- AN EPILOGUE"

PREMIERS AT LIED CENTER, 100 THEATERS ACROSS

U.S. AND ABROAD
Local cast performs epilogue of highly acclaimed "Laramie Project"
October 12
Lincoln, NE-- The Lied Center for Performing Arts is bringing The Laramie
Project: Ten Years Later-An Epilogue, a follow-up of the highly acclaimed The
Laramie Project to Lincoln. As part of a nationwide endeavor initiated by
Tectonic Theatre Project, the play will be performed as a staged reading in
over 100 theaters across the United States and abroad. A local cast will
perform the reading on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Howell
Theater.
The Laramie Project examined the brutal murder of gay student
Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming and since 2000 has been one of the
most performed plays in America. The play was later turned into a film for
HBO. Now, the Tectonic Theatre Project presents their compelling and
groundbreaking follow-up of the original piece entitled, The Laramie Project:
Ten Years Later- An Epilogue that looks at the long-term effects of the murder
on the town of Laramie. The epilogue explores how the town has changed
and how the murder continues to reverberate throughout the community,
including new interviews with Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard and the
murderers, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The play will be
performed by Tectonic Theatre Project in New York and by local casts in over
100 theatres in all 50 states, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, Hong Kong and
Australia on October 12, the eleventh anniversary of Matthew's death.
Actress Glenn Close will host the opening remarks section which will be
webcast live over the Internet to all the participating theaters. As part of the
project, Leigh Fondakowski (Head Writer of The Laramie Project and one of
five co-authors of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later-An Epilogue) visited
UNL during September, leading campus discussions and working with the
local Laramie performance cast.
Lincoln's reading will be performed by a local cast under the direction
of Shannon Cameron. To reserve your seats, visit
http://education.liedcenter.org and click on news. It is free and open to the
public, and the audience can ask questions to Tectonic Theatre Project via
Twitter at the end of the reading. For additional information, contact Petra
Wahlqvist, Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Learning at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts at (402) 472-3215 or at pwahlqvist2@unl.edu.
This program is presented by the Lied Center for Performing Arts'
education program, AdventureLied in collaboration with LGBTQA Programs &
Services and OASIS/The Culture Center.

For more information about The Laramie Project and Tectonic Theatre Project,
visit: http://www.laramieproject.org and
http://www.tectonictheatreproject.org.