THE LARAMIE PROJECT
by Moisés Kaufman
and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project

 

HEAD WRITER
Leigh Fondakowski

ASSOCIATE WRITERS
Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Stephen Wangh

DRAMATURGS
Amanda Gronich, Sarah Lambert, John McAdams, Maude Mitchell, Andy Paris, Barbara Pitts, Kelli Simpkins

The US West World Premiere was produced by
The Denver Center Theatre Company
Donovan Marley, Artistic Director
in association with

Tectonic Theater Project
Moisés Kaufman, Artistic Director.

Originally produced in New York City at the Union Square Theatre by Roy Gabay and Tectonic Theater Project in association with Gayle Francis and the Araca Group
Associate Producers: Mara Isaacs and Hart Sharp Entertainment.

The Laramie Project was developed in part with the support of
The Sundance Theatre Laboratory.

 

The Laramie Project is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York

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AUTHOR'S NOTE
by Moisés Kaufman

The Laramie Project was written through a unique collaboration by Tectonic Theater Project. During the year-and-a-half development of the play, members of the company and I traveled to Laramie six times to conduct interviews, then conducted several workshops in which the members of the company presented material and acted as dramaturgs in the creation of the play.

As the volume of material grew with each additional trip to Laramie, a small writers’ group from within the company began to work closely with me to further organize and edit the material, conduct essential work in Laramie, and collaborate on the writing of the play. This group was led by Leigh Fondakowski as Head Writer, with Stephen Belber and Greg Pierotti as Associate Writers.

As we got closer to the play’s first production in Denver, the actors, including Stephen Belber and Greg Pierotti, turned their focus to performance, while Leigh Fondakowski continued to work with me on drafts of the play, as did Stephen Wangh, who by then had joined us as an Associate Writer and “bench coach.”

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AUTHOR'S BIOS

Leigh Fondakowski

Leigh Fondakowski was the Head Writer of THE LARAMIE PROJECT and has been a member of Tectonic Theatre Project since 1995. She is an Emmy-nominated co-screenwriter for the adaptation of THE LARAMIE PROJECT for HBO. Her work THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE has been performed under her direction at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Perseverance Theater, American Theater Company, and The Guthrie Theater, and received the Glickman Award for Best New Play in the Bay Area in 2005. Another original play, I THINK I LIKE GIRLS, premiered at Encore Theater in San Francisco under her direction and was voted one of the top ten plays of 2002 by “The Advocate.” Other directing credits include: GERDA’S LIEUTENANT by Ellen Greeves and Bennett Singer (Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts), THREE SECONDS IN THE KEY by Deb Margolin (San Francisco Playhouse), THE LARAMIE PROJECT (Berkeley Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Perseverance Theater) and LA VOIX HUMAINE by Jean Cocteau (Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh). Leigh is a 2007 recipient of the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights and has developed a play about 19th century actress Charlotte Cushman with About Face Theatre and Tectonic Theater Project. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Masters in Contemporary Performance program at Naropa University.

Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman is a Tony and Emmy nominated director and playwright. His play 33 VARIATIONS, starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for five Tony awards (including one for Ms. Fonda). Previous to that, Mr. Kaufman directed the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play I AM MY OWN WIFE, earning him an Obie award for his direction as well as Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel nominations. His plays GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE and THE LARAMIE PROJECT have been among the most performed plays in America over the last decade. Mr. Kaufman also directed the film adaptation of THE LARAMIE PROJECT for HBO, which was the opening night selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won the National Board of Review Award, the Humanitas Prize, and a Special Mention for Best First Film at the Berlin Film Festival. The film also earned Mr. Kaufman two Emmy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Writer. He is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project and a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting. Other credits include BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO (Mark Taper Forum); MACBETH with Liev Schreiber (Public Theater); THIS IS HOW IT GOES (Donmar Warehouse); ONE ARM by Tennessee Williams (Steppenwolf Theater Company); MASTER CLASS with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theater); and LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN (Williamstown Theater Festival).

Andy Paris
Andy Paris has made a career of developing new works for the stage and screen, including “The Laramie Project” (Emmy nomination), GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE by Moises Kaufman, Lucie Tiberghien’s THE QUIET ROOM, and INNOCENTS by Rachel Dickstein. As a writer/director Andy created THE FANMAKER’S INQUISITION, adapted from the novel by Rikki Ducornet. He also developed GOLDSTAR OHIO by Michael Tisdale, directing the stage version at The Cleveland Public Theatre, and the short film starring Bill Irwin, Alison Pill, Mercedes Ruehl, and Michael Emerson. He is also the writer of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER, an Epilogue to THE LARAMIE PROJECT. For The Women’s Project he wrote THE CORPORATE CARNIVAL, which was presented in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. Andy was invited to participate in The Lincoln Center Directors Lab in 2008. As an actor he has performed in countless plays in New York, regionally, and in Europe. Regionally, he has been seen at Playmaker’s Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Theatre Virginia, Berkeley Rep, and La Jolla Playhouse. He performed in OR, by Liz Duffy Adams, at The Women’s Project in 2009. He has also been the recipient of two AUDIE Awards for his audiobook narrations. As an original member of Tectonic Theatre Project, Andy has worked under the mentorship of Mr. Kaufman, and now teaches the techniques which he and Tectonic developed over the past couple decades. He has taught workshops at New York University, DePaul University, Naropa Institute, and in Osaka, Japan, among others. Andy grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a graduate of NYU.

Greg Pierotti
Greg Pierotti is co-author of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER. He is associate writer of THE LARAMIE PROJECT (2001 New York Drama Desk and Lortel Award nominee), and co-writer of THE LARAMIE PROJECT teleplay for HBO (2002 Emmy nominee). He is head writer of THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE (2005 Glickman Award). His short story “‘lude” has been anthologized in “Men to Men: New Voices in Gay Fiction.” As an actor he has performed in new and classical work in New York and regionally. He originated roles in the world premieres of THE LARAMIE PROJECT, THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE, and GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE. He teaches English, Writing, and Performance in colleges and MFA programs around the country. He is one of five master teachers of moment work, a technique for writing and developing performance developed by Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project. He is currently developing two pieces: a screenplay, “Mineshaft,” about the infamous queer sex club of the same name, and a play, MR. APOLOGY, based on transcribed confessions of criminals and wrongdoers of all stripes collected by the artist Allan Bridge in New York during the 1980s. He has been a member of Tectonic Theater Project for over 14 years.

Stephen Wangh
has been a playwright, director, and teacher of acting. He is the author of An Acrobat of the Heart, a physical approach to acting inspired by the work of Jerzy Grotowski (Vintage, Random House, 2000) and of The Heart of Teaching: Empowering Students in the Performing Arts (Routledge, 2012). He is the author of 15 plays, and was one of the writers of The People’s Temple (Glickman award: Best play in the Bay Area, 2005). He was Associate Writer for The Laramie Project (Emmy nomination 2002), and dramaturg of Moisés Kaufman’s Gross Indecency, the three trials of Oscar Wilde (1997). Stephen now teaches the Acrobatics of the Heart immersive summer training for performers. And he leads seminars and workshops on the Inner Dynamics of Teaching for teachers of the performing arts.