UW to stage epilogue to "Laramie Project" LARAMIE, WY (wpr) - The University of Wyoming will hold a staged reading of "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" on Monday night, the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. The new work is an epilogue to the play that documented reactions in Laramie to Shepard's murder, in 1998. UW professor Beth Loffreda wrote a book about the Shepard murder and its effects, and she was among those interviewed for the new play. She says part of its intent is to build an ongoing discussion, "The fact that there are people here in Wyoming who are really uncomfortable with gay people and with gay rights, and the fact that there are people here - gay and straight - who aren't uncomfortable - means that we still need to talk about it."
The new play also includes interviews with Aaron McKinney, one of the two men convicted in Shepard's murder. According to information released in advance of the production, McKinney acknowledges that Shepard's sexuality was part of what drove the killing. UW is one of more than 150 locations worldwide that will debut the work on Monday night.
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