Ithaca College Theatre Presents 'The Laramie Project'

Ithaca College Theatre opens its 2002 - 3 season with a Clark Theatre staging of Moisés Kaufman's The Laramie Project, a drama based on the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.

Performances will be held at 8:00 pm on October 1, 3, and 8 - 12. There will be 2:00 pm matinees on October 12 and 13.

Tickets can be purchased at the Ithaca College ticket office in Dillingham Center, the Clinton House ticket center, and Cornell University's Willard Straight Hall. Prices range from $4.50 to $10.00. The Ithaca College ticket office is open Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 pm, beginning September 23. For information call 274-3224. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more; call 274-3796.

In October 1998 Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was lured from a Laramie bar by two men posing as homosexuals. After driving Shepard to a secluded spot, the men tied him to a fence post, beat him, and left him to die. The next month, members of the New York - based Tectonic Theater Project, under the artistic direction of founder Moisés Kaufman, traveled to Laramie to explore the crime and its aftermath. For the next year the actors, writers, and designers conducted over 200 interviews with members of the community to learn how the people of Laramie struggled with the killing, the trial, and the media firestorm surrounding the tragedy.

Krista Scott, director of the Ithaca College production, is in her second year as an assistant professor of theater arts. Last year she served as vocal coach for the College's production of A Voice of My Own and staged an outdoor workshop of Sophocles' Electra. Scott has acted in theater companies throughout the Midwest. She cofounded and served as associate director of the New Tradition Theatre Company in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where she worked for 10 years as a director, playwright, actor, and educator. Her directing credits include Dancing at Lughnasa, Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Kiss Me, Kate, The Heidi Chronicles, and The Bacchae.

The Laramie Project is an ensemble piece. The 10 actors, who will each play multiple roles, are Billy Lyons '03, Chris Mollica '03, Brooke Sciscio '03, Laurel Beversdorf '03, Todd Sandstrom '04, Jeremy Pickard '05, Erin Loomis '03, Kimberlee Walker '05, Heather Hill '04, and Will Pinchin '03.

The production team includes technical director Desiree Yost '03, scenic designer Dan Meeker, sound designer Eric Fredericks '03, lighting designer Rose Howard '04, costume designer Greg Robbins, dramaturge Alison Klejna '04, and stage manager Rachel Zack '03.