Monmouth Community Players to present ‘The Laramie Project’ in July

PHOTO: Some of the cast of “The Laramie Project,” Danny Gay, Don Libby, Brittany Bazinet, Emily Kalafarski, Josie French, Paul Menezes and Ray Fletcher. (Submitted photo)

MONMOUTH — The Monmouth Community Players, for their first production of 2021, will present “The Laramie Project,” by Moisés Kaufman and the members of Tectonic Theater Project.
The show will be performed outdoors, at South Road Farm, in Fayette, in July.
The minimalistic set and true-to-story setting helps drive home the powerful production. The show is being directed by Joanne McDonald, with assistant director Cami Gibson, and co-producers Josie French and Jackie McDonald. The stage crew includes Emily Carlton and Hannah McAdam.
“The Laramie Project” tells the real-life story of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay who was kidnapped, beaten tied to a fence, and left to die outside of Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998. Although he was found alive, he died a few days later. Kaufman and other members of the Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie to conduct more than 200 interviews with residents regarding the crime which, combined with their own reactions, became The Laramie Project. The interviews dramatically depicted in the performance are a compilation of reactions to the murder that explores the lowest depths of humanity, but also the truest levels of compassion to which mankind can ascend.
The cast of includes Ray Fletcher and Danny Gay, both of Monmouth; Don Libby, of Auburn; Paul Menezes, of Windham; Jackie McDonald, of Mechanic Falls; Emily Kalafarski, of Hallowell; Hannah Hanson, of Fairfield; Brittany Bazinet, of Greene; Josie French, of Lewiston. Dramaturg for the production is Jane Mitchell, of Greene.
Because of the mature subject matter, the sow is not recommended for children below high school age. For information on tickets and more, visit www.monmouthcommunityplayers.org.