The Laramie Project was written through a unique collaboration by Tectonic Theater Project. During the year-and-a-half-long development of the play, members of the company and I traveled to Laramie six times to conduct interviews with the people of the town. We transcribed and edited the interviews, then conducted several workshops in which the members of the company presented material and acted as dramaturgs in the creation of the play.

As the volume of material grew with each trip to Laramie, a small writers’ group from within the company began to work closely with me to further organize and edit the material, conduct additional research in Laramie, and collaborate on the writing of the play. This group was led by Leigh Fondakowski as head writer, with Stephen Belber and Greg Pierotti as associate writers.

As we got closer to the play’s first production in Denver, the actors, including Stephen Belber and Greg Pierotti, turned their focus to performance while Leigh Fondakowski continued to work with me on drafts of the play, as did Stephen Wangh, who by then had joined us as an associate writer and “bench coach.”

The Laramie Project received its world premiere at The Ricketson Theatre by the Denver Center Theatre Company (Donovan Marley, Artistic Director) in association with Tectonic Theater Project (Moisés Kaufman, Artistic Director; Jeffrey LaHoste, Managing Director) in Denver, Colorado, on February 19, 2000. It was directed by Moisés Kaufman; the set design was by Robert Brill; the lighting design was by Betsy Adams; the original music was by Peter Golub; the sound design was by Craig Breitenbach; the video and slides were by Martha Swetzoff; the costume design was by Moe Schell; the assistant director was Leigh Fondakowski; and the project advisor was Stephen Wangh. The cast was as follows:

Stephen Belber: Himself, Doc O’Connor, Matt Galloway, Anonymous Friend of Aaron McKinney, Bill McKinney, Andrew Gomez, Fred Phelps, Mormon Spiritual Advisor, Conrad Miller, Narrator, Ensemble.

Amanda Gronich: Herself, Eileen Engen (Act One), Marge Murray, Baptist Minister, Trish Steger, Shadow, Newsperson, Narrator, Ensemble.

Mercedes Herrero: Reggie Fluty, Rebecca Hilliker, Waitress, Newsperson, Narrator, Ensemble.

John McAdams: Moisés Kaufman, Philip Dubois (Act One), Stephen Mead Johnson, Murdock Cooper, Jon Peacock, Dennis Shepard, Harry Woods, Narrator, Ensemble.

Andy Paris: Himself, Jedadiah Schultz, Doug Laws, Dr. Cantway, Matt Mickelson, Russell Henderson, Aaron McKinney, Philip Dubois (Act Two), Kerry Drake, Narrator, Ensemble.

Greg Pierotti: Himself, Sgt. Hing, Phil LaBrie, Father Roger Schmit, Rulon Stacey, Detective Sgt. Rob DeBree, Jonas Slonaker, Narrator, Ensemble.

Barbara Pitts: Herself, Catherine Connolly, April Silva, Zubaida Ula, Sherry Aenonson, Lucy Thompson, Eileen Engen (Act Two), Narrator, Ensemble.

Kelli Simpkins: Leigh Fondakowski, Zackie Salmon, Alison Sears, Romaine Patterson, Aaron Kreifels, Tiffany Edwards, Narrator, Ensemble.