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Tectonic Theater Project
The goal of the members of the Tectonic Theater is to shape personal testimony into theatrical forms. As the company collects, selects, and edits the testimony, relationships develop between the subjects and the crew and actors which influence how the script is crafted and the final product. Moises Kaufman and the members of the Tectonic Theater Project entered Laramie, Wyoming in the aftermath of the highly publicized murder of Matthew Shepard.
The actors interviewed the townspeople of Laramie and collected hours of testimonies. Kaufman chose to divide the play into theatrical units of time called "moments." These interdependent but independently moving pieces of time granted a certain degree of freedom to how the scenes were arranged and what material was included in the play. After returning to New York, the group members participated in workshops during which the actors took sections of the interviews and used costume pieces and props to come up with scenes to present to Kaufman and the rest of the group. Kaufman calls this process “writing from the stage.” Acting as a conductor of theatrical elements, Kaufman allowed the scenes and the script to form as they went along.
Although the group tackled a piece about a controversial issue, the Tectonic Theater Project created a relatively noncontroversial, palatable play. They afforded closure to some members of Laramie while at the same time presenting a relevant issue for consideration to the public.