It’s been 25 years since the debut of the tour de force play known as The Laramie Project. It’s based on the 1998 brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old student at the University of Laramie Wyoming. The entire nation was shocked to hear how this young gay man was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left there to die.  The two culprits who lured him out of a bar, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were immediately caught and are currently serving life sentences in jail.

Pati Shojaee, Christian Jimenez

A year after the murder, a group of reporters and members from Moisés Kaufman’s Tectonic Theater Project came to Laramie and conducted over 200 interviews with the residents of the small town. This includes local townspeople, law enforcement as well as the friends and family of Matthew Shepard.

Zolboo Namkhaidorj, Michael DeMartini, Sarah "Eli" Hampton, Christian Jimenez

Directed by River Bermudez Sanders and Elio Amador, the story is presented as an “elevated staged reading” in the style of a documentary, playing like a well-constructed episode of Law & Order. The ensemble of actors play multiple roles representing 60 different people. At Theater Rhinoceros, the very small confined space is really no bigger than a large living room. The walls are painted dark and the audience is seated in rows of folding chairs on either side of a small platform that serves as the main stage. Action often happens on all sides of the theater with actors delivering–sometimes shouting–lines from every corner of the room. This creates an intimate and intense experience.

Sarah "Eli" Hampton, Dany Benítez, Christian Jimenez, and Michael DeMartini

The reporters arrive in this small town in America to get a sense of the community as they’re investigating the incident and aftermath. The town has a wide range of people from waitresses, friends of Matthew, and academics from the University weighing in. The second part consists of the reporters and actors struggling to piece things together theoretically to create a coherent story. The final part delves into the sadness of Matthew’s death and funeral followed by the riveting criminal trials of the two perpetrators.

Sarah "Eli" Hampton and Michael DeMartini

The performers amaze with their versatility, as each plays a variety of many diverse characters. They are Dany Benitez, Michael DeMartini, Sarah “Eli” Hampton, Christian Jimenez, Zolboo Namkhaidorj, Pati Shojaee, and Jhasper X. For two hours and forty minutes with one brief intermission, it’s a big ask of the audience to endure this gripping and brutal drama that never lets up. Even knowing the ending ahead of time, it’s an emotionally draining. nerve-wracking evening that is also great theater.

Pati Shojaee, Dany Benítez, Zolboo Namkhaidorj

This case was one of the first of it’s kind to draw attention to issues of hate crimes and queer rights. It led to the eventual passage of The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. This being Gay Pride Month the timing of this production, which only runs through June 29, reminds us of the effects of hate, prejudice and injustice. With random acts of cruelty and violence currently playing out in this country on a daily basis this show illustrates a message of hope. While we can’t necessarily stop the hate, communities coming together in their response to these actions can lead to change.

photos by Little Boxes Theater

The Laramie Project
Theatre Rhinoceros, 4229 18th St. in San Francisco
ends on June 29, 2025
for tickets, visit The Rhino