Princeton Day School Presents "The Laramie Project"

The aftermath of life in Laramie, Wyo. following the assault and death of Matthew Shepard will be on display this weekend when Princeton Day School presents its upper school fall play “The Laramie Project”

Shepard was 21 years old when in 1998 he was kidnapped, beaten, and left to die, tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie.

He was assaulted because he was gay.

Last year, Rutgers student Tyler Clementi committed suicide after his roommate secretly taped him kissing another man sand broadcast it over the internet.

“In New Jersey, there are probably 12 schools doing this production right now, just a groundswell of reaction in part doe to what happened to Tyler Clementi at Rutgers,” said Stan Cahill, theater artist-in residence at the school and a teaching artist at McCarter Theater.

“It’s the most produced play in America right now and I think that says something, it’s almost a play that needs to be done, a story that needs to be told,” Cahill said.

“The Laramie Project” at Princeton Day School runs Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 27, 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m., plus a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students.

Moisés Kaufman and members of the New York-based Tectonic Theater Project wrote the play, after traveling to Laramie six times over 18 months after Shepherd’s death and during the subsequent trial. The team conducted more than 200 interviews with Laramie residents, which formed the basis of this play.

More than three dozen Princeton Day School students in grades 9-12 are involved in the fall production, including 17 actors.

Jeffrey Van Velsor is the play’s technical director. He and Cahill are two of the theatre professionals helping guide and mentor the theater students.

“The school has a long tradition of a really strong theater program,” Cahill said.  It’s engrained in the school here and people expect a high level of production value.”

Cahill chose “The Laramie Project” in part because students using the text in their classes talked to him about the play’s presentation and style. This, following a student trip to the Fringe Festival in Scotland, made up his mind.

“The kids were ripe for a challenge in terms of content and style,” Cahill said.

The play deals with the tragic death of Shepard, but it has also provided Princeton students with a deeper message.

“The play looks at a community fractured and trying to put itself back together,” Cahill said. “Students are making connections to conflicts in their own lives and looking at from different angles and different viewpoints.”