A Few Characters from The Laramie Project

The Narrator (played by Richard Childs): “On November 14, 1989, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming several times and conducted over 200 interviews. The play is based on these interviews as well as from the members' journals.”

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Marge Murray (local, 70s, played by Joyce Matchett, rt): “If you don't take care of the land, then you ruin it and you lose your living. So first of all, have to take care of your land and do everything you can to improve it. Yeah, I could run around the house in my all togethers, do the housework while the kids were in school. And nobody could see me. And if they got that close...” Alison Mears (close friend of Marge, 50s, played by Sarah Kirby, lf) “Well, then that's their problem.” 

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Doc O'Connor (local, 50s, played by Matthew Daly, lf): “Let me tell you something else here, there's more gay people in Wyoming than meets the eye. I know, I know for a fact. They're not particularly, ah, the whatta you call them, the queens, the gay people, queens, you know, run around...”

Matt Galloway (bartender, 20s, played by Paul Collins, rt): “So what can I tell you say about Matt? ...Manners, Politeness, intelligence. ...Now approximately eleven forty-five Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson come in...Dirty. Grungy. Rude. Gimme. That type of thing. They walked up to the bar...”

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Reggie Fluty (policewoman, 30s, played by Charlotte R Campbell, rt): “When I got there, at first the only thing I could see was partially somebody's feet and I got out of my vehicle and raced over...His head was distorted. You know, it did not look...” 

Dr. Gantway (ER doctor, 50s, played by Shelley Halstead): “You expect this kind of injury to come from a car going down a hill at eighty miles an hour....horrendous, terrible, thing. But you don't expect to see that from someone doing this to another person.”

Governor Geringer (Republican, 70s, played by Jim Matchett, lf): “I would like to urge the people of Wyoming against overreacting in a way that gives one group special rights over others.”

Jon Peacock (professor, 40s, played by Mathilde Verhaar, below): “There's reporters everywhere, news trucks everywhere on campus., everywhere in town. We're not used to that type of exposure.”

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Jonas Slonaker (local, 70s, played by Steve Myers): “When I cam here I knew it was going to be hard as a gay man. But I kept telling myself, people should live where they want to live. And there would be times I would go down to Denver and I would go to gay bars and, um, people would ask...”

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Rebecca Hilliker (Uni of Wyoming, dept head for theater, 40s, played by Ann Fink, front): “...when you first called me, I wanted to say you've just kicked me in the stomach. Why are you doing this to me? But then I thought, that's stupid, you're not doing this to me. And more...”



Jedadiah Schultz (Uni student, 19, played by Ian Weatherseed, below): “It's hard to talk about Laramie now, to tell you what Laramie is, for us. ...before, I would have told you, Laramie is a beautiful town...after Matthew, I would say that Laramie is defined by an accident, a crime....”

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Romaine Patterson (lesbian, 21, played by Karen Dodgson, lf): “And whenever I think of Matthew, I always think of his incredible beaming smile. I mean, he'd walk in and he'd be like, you know, and he'd smile at everyone...”

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Baptist Minister (came from Texas, 50s, played by Jeff Lynn): “My dear brothers and sisters. I am here today to bring you the Word of the Lord. Now, I have a simple truth to tell to my colleagues and I'm gonna tell it to you today. The word is either sufficient or it is not.”

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