“The Laramie Project,” now at the Arvada Center, continues to offer fresh lessons | Review

Denver Post | Lisa Kennedy | October 12, 2023

Late in a recent matinee of “The Laramie Project,” the steady tears of a woman in a nearby row turned to sobbing. It wasn’t a distraction so much as a confirmation that the tragedy that led playwright Moisés Kaufman and a team of fellow theater makers from his company, Tectonic Theater Project, to descend upon Laramie, Wyo., with compassionate and questioning hearts remains rending. And given the uptick in violence directed at people who identify as LGBTQ+, its lessons remain timely.

On Oct. 12, it will have been 25 years to the day that Matthew Shepard died at Fort Collins’ Poudre Valley Hospital, where he was taken after being robbed, severely beaten and left tied to a wood-railing fence outside Laramie. Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the assailants who posed as gay to gain Shepard’s trust, are serving consecutive life sentences for his murder.

Christopher Hudson as Jedadiah Schultz in “The Laramie Project.” Amanda Tipton Photography, provided by the Arvada Center

In a fine departure from its often satisfying but cautious programming, the Arvada Center — under artistic director Lynne Collins — is staging the docudrama with the polish its productions so often have. The ensemble is aided by the mindful direction of Kate Gleason and Rodney Lizcano, themselves talented actors. The play received its world premiere in 2000 at the Denver Center.

Read the full article from the Denver Post here. Additional coverage at Colorado Public Radio