FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (1/04)
Contact: Marjorie Lyons Playhouse, 318-869-5242, or Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120

Centenary Theatre Department to Present The Laramie Project beginning Feb. 4

SHREVEPORT, LA -- The Theatre Department at Centenary College will present The Laramie Project at Marjorie Lyons Playhouse with a preview performance on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. and regular performances Feb. 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. Tickets for the production, which go on sale Thursday, Jan. 29, cost $15 for adults, $13 for senior citizens and $10 for students/children. For the preview performance, admission is $8 for all seats. The box office is open daily from noon to 4 p.m. and reservations may be made by calling 381-869-5242 during box office hours.

The Laramie Project is written by Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theatre Project and is being co-directed by Patric McWilliams and Robert Buseick. Set and light designs are by Don Hooper, with McWilliams designing the costumes and sound and Sarah Perkins serving as assistant director/stage manager.

The play is based on an incident that occurred in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming. In October 1998, a 21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay.

Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theatre Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. Some people interviewed were directly connected to the case and others were citizens of Laramie. The Laramie Project chronicles the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder. Kaufman and Tectonic Theatre members have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these interviews and their own experiences.

The Laramie Project is a theatrical collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which it is capable.

Ten actors playing over 60 roles, including members of the Tectonic Theatre Project and citizens of Laramie, will perform The Laramie Project. They are Blake Baudier, Ashley Beckham, Pamela Captain, Rob Laha, Anysia Manthos, Patric McWilliams, Jamie Norwood, Joshua Porter, Sarah Smith and Megan Taylor.

Baudier is a sophomore theatre major and has appeared at MLP in productions of Women Behind Bars, Winnie the Pooh and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.

Beckham is a junior theatre major who has appeared at MLP in Women Behind Bars, Winnie the Pooh, Electra and The Wayside Motor Inn.

Captain is a community actress/director who has appeared at MLP in productions of Funny Girl, Smile and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Laha is a sophomore theatre major who has appeared at MLP in productions of Mary Poppins, Mame, 1776, Blood Brothers and Grand Hotel.

Manthos is a junior theatre major and has appeared at MLP in Women Behind Bars, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Bat, Electra, Winnie the Pooh and Wit.

McWilliams is an adjunct faculty member and has appeared recently in 1776, Noises Off, Cabaret, Gross Indecency, Nine, Art and Lonely Planet.

Norwood is a freshman theatre major making his MLP debut.

Porter is a graduating senior who has appeared at MLP in The Shape of Things, Women Behind Bars, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, As Bees in Honey Drown, Noises Off, 1776 and The Wayside Motor Inn.

Smith is a sophomore theatre major who has appeared at MLP in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon; The Shape of Things; and Women Behind Bars.

Taylor is a junior theatre major who has appeared at MLP in Winnie the Pooh and The Seagull.

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