Shannon KeoughThe Cabrini College theater will be performing “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.” Cabrini will be one of 100 other theaters in the United States staging simultaneous productions on Monday, Oct. 12.
Cabrini’s theater will perform the play after a 20-minute live video feed introduction is played from New York’s Lincoln Center. The Lincoln Center’s performance will be hosted by Glenn Close and transmitted to all theaters performing “Laramie.”
This story is a follow up to “The Laramie Project,” written by Moisés Kaufman and other members of the Tectonic Theater Project. The original “Laramie” was comprised of interviews from the town of Laramie, Wyo., where 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was gay.
“This event popularized the term ‘hate crime,'” Dr. Thomas Stretton, director of the Cabrini theater, said. “People transcribed and edited transcripts from interviews in Laramie [then] went back after 10 years to new and old people to see the impact. One of the playwrights came to see the original two years ago and invited us to perform the new play. Cabrini College is one of three colleges and universities in Pa., along with Carnegie-Mellon and Temple, to perform it.”
“The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” is still being written and the theater is constantly receiving updated scripts to practice.
“This play means a lot to me because we’re all representing Matthew Shepard and want to represent him well,” Maddie Iacobucci, junior communication major, said. “We’re bringing awareness to hate crimes and legislation. I think it’s coming along well. We kind of jumped into it. We’re going to be off book, but we need to know it really well.” Iacobucci, along with other actors, play several different characters throughout the performance.
“This is a different show than any I’ve ever acted in,” Robert Stoop, junior pre-nursing major, said. “I’m really excited to be a part of this type of show. I was the assistant lighting director and assistant electrician for the original. The difference between this and the original is this show is more serious because it shows how much people have changed in 10 years. It shows the timeline from where they were then and now and how some things haven’t changed.”
Every actor is working hard rehearsing their lines and motions as they ready themselves for the Monday, Oct. 12 performance. Although the script is in constant flux, no one has lost their vigor for bringing the story of Matthew Shepard to the upcoming audience.
With about 20 high school productions under his belt, Sam Hallowell, freshman math major, is making his college acting debut with “Laramie.”
“This one in particular I’m a little nervous, because it’s a world premiere,” Hallowell said. “My biggest part is Father Roger who was the priest that Matthew and his family went to church with and he gave a sermon and a prayer vigil after Matthew was killed. It’s the most emotionally draining and deepest show I’ve ever done and I bet if you asked anyone else in the cast it’ll be right up there.”
The play will be performed for free in the atrium of Grace Hall at 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12 at the same time as the Lincoln Center performance. A Cabrini prelude will begin at 7:45 p.m.
“This is the first theater that really puts an emphasis on really getting into a character, especially with such an intimate theater and small show,” Hallowell said, “This show opened my eyes to a whole new world and it is amazing. A lot of people say, ‘We should do this’ or ‘Why can’t we do that,’ but this show shows specific things people are doing in Laramie and in Congress.”
For more information, visit The Laramie Project’s web site at www.laramieproject.org or contact Stretton at Thomas.Stretton@cabrini.edu.
