The Rainbow Connection Network

In October 1998 Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, severely beaten and left to die, tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.  Five weeks later, Moises Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town.  From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, a chronicle of the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder.  THE LARAMIE PROJECT is one of the most performed plays in America today.

Engaging A Nation 

The success of initial the original stage productions of the Laramie Project (in New York City as well as Denver Colorado and, appropriately, in Laramie) inspired countless productions across the nation and worldwide. In the early 2000's, the Laramie Project was the most produced play in the united States. Both the quality of the work and it's obvious impact attracted HBO Films interest. Kaufman and his group returned to Laramie for filming, including  many members of the community as extras and in small roles. Major roles were played by such Hollywood heavy hitters as Christina Ricci (as Romaine Patterson), Peter Fonda (as Dr. Cantway) and Amy Madigan (as Officer Reggie Fluty, the woman who discovered Matt's brutally beaten body tied to the fence).

The impact of the play did not just inspire positive response. Members of a Kansas based church, who had picketed Matthew's funeral, also protested many productions of the play. Their notoriety, which they seemed to thrive on, increased further when they were successfully sued in civil court for picketing the funeral of an American soldier killed in Iraq.