The Laramie Project

In “Moment: Alison and Marge,” company member Greg Pierotti introduces us to two local women, Alison and Marge. They reflect on how Laramie has changed over the years. When Marge was younger, it was more rural and private. She also suggests that class is a significant issue in Laramie, with a wide gulf between the elite jobs at the University of Wyoming, upon which the town’s economy relies, and the minimum wage service jobs available to the majority of the town’s residents.

Pierotti steers the conversation to Matthew and Marge admits that she feels close to the case. She claims to be unperturbed by homosexuality—as long as gay people leave her alone—and that this attitude of “live and let live” (30) is shared by the majority of people in Laramie. At the same time, she acknowledges that if a gay person did flirt with someone in a Laramie bar, they might be attacked. She hints that she knows more than what she’s told Pierotti but refuses to say more in case the play is staged in Laramie.

The next moment is entitled “Matthew” and gives us our first impression of the young man at the center of The Laramie Project. The voices presented here include those of Doc O’Connor, a limousine driver Matthew hired to drive him to a gay club; Trish Steger, a shop owner and sister of Matthew’s friend, Romaine; and Jon Peacock, Matthew’s academic advisor at the University of Wyoming. We learn that Matthew was a shy, slight young man with an interest in politics and ambitions to study human rights He was, in Doc’s words, a “blunt little shit” (31), a quality Doc admired. Just 48 hours before he was attacked, Matthew spoke to Romaine and told her that he was excited about Pride.

In “Who’s Getting What?” we meet Doc O’Connor again, who suggests that there are far more gay people in Wyoming than there seem to be. These gay people are not “queens” (32) or “run around faggot type people” (32); they blend in. He doesn’t think people in Wyoming care whether people or gay or straight and points out that the number of men exceeds the number of women—at least in the average bar—so “who’s getting what?” (33).

“Easier Said Than Done” gives voice to the experience of gay people in Laramie. Catherine Connolly, a professor at the university, reveals that she was the first “out” faculty member on campus. This, of course, did not mean she was the only lesbian; in fact she was soon contacted by another lesbian who wanted to meet her but who warned that there were other women who wouldn’t be seen with her. Jonas Slonaker, a gay man living in Laramie, reveals that he would travel to Denver to visit gay bars and would meet a lot of Wyoming men there, men who thought wistfully of the places—including Laramie—that they came from. Jonas wonders what would happen if more gay people stayed in the small towns they were born in but acknowledges that this is “easier said than done” (34). 

The next voices we hear are those of the theatre company, in “Journal Entries.” They are moving hotels and preparing to visit the town’s different churches. Amanda Gronich prepares herself to visit the Baptist Church.