Casting Call for LTCC’s Fall Production of 'The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later'

The Lake Tahoe Community College Theatre Arts Department will be holding auditions for its fall theatre production of “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in the college’s Duke Theatre.

This production commemorates the 15th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death. Several events will be presented at the college in association with this production, including a screening of the brand new documentary film, “Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine.”

Shepard was a gay college student who was tortured and left for dead while tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyoming in October, 1998. He died a few days later. The horrible crime and how the community dealt with it was the focus of “The Laramie Project,” a theatrical production that came to LTCC in 2010.

In the years since the play’s creators first interviewed townspeople about their feelings, Shepard became an important icon in the fight for gay rights – a fight that has led to remarkable change in recent months. But how did the passing of time affect the town where the murder took place? And what of the two men found responsible for Shepard’s death? That’s the premise behind “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later,” a play that explores how a tragic event that became international news still haunts and shapes Laramie today.

Here are the details:
AUDITIONS: Tuesday, September 24 at 7 p.m. in the LTCC Duke Theatre.
REHEARSALS: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings near the start; the number of rehearsals will increase as performance time draws closer.
PERFORMANCES: Friday and Saturday November 15 & 16; Thursday, Friday and Saturday November 21, 22 and 23; Sunday matinees on November 17 and 24.

CASTING: 5 men and 5 women to play multiple characters ranging in ages from 18-65. All ethnicities are encouraged to audition. Actors should be able to create multiple, distinct characters.

Audition sides will be available at the Theatre Department callboard and on the Theatre Department’s Facebook page prior to auditions. Scripts of the play are available in the LTCC Library for 48-hour checkouts.

TECHNICAL POSITIONS: Positions for Light and Sound Board Operators, backstage crew, and construction crew are available.

THE STORY: On October 7, 1998, gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day he was discovered on a prairie at the edge of town, tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death. Five days later, Shepard died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Ft. Collins, Colorado. On November 14th, 1998, 10 members of the Tectonic Theatre Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the townspeople.

For the next year, the company returned to Laramie six times and conducted over 200 interviews. These texts became the basis for the play The Laramie Project. Ten years later on September 12, 2008, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effects of the murder. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted audiences in the original play, this time around the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard.

“The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” is a bold new work that asks the question, "How does society write its own history?" This production contains mature themes and content. For more information about auditions, the play itself, or the screening of the documentary film, “Matthew Shepard is a Friend of Mine,” please contact LTCC Theatre Arts faculty member Susan Boulanger at (530) 541-4660 ext. 240, or email her at Boulanger@ltcc.edu.