Literary Analysis

    In her review of "The Laramie Project" by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tetonic Theater Project, Amy L. Tigner contends that The Laramie Project was written in the style of a narrative although it tries to present itself as a true story. Specifically, she argues that The Laramie Project is biased through its presentation because as in any theatrical work, editing removes parts of interview and changes the perceptions the audience has of the characters. Tigner explains that the Tetonic Theater Project "craft Kreifels' words so as not to include some homophobic remarks that he made." Kreifels was the boy who found Matthew Shepard tied to the fence, barely alive. In the play, Tigner argues that the authors exclude certain parts of the interview with Kreifels in order to maintain the audience's opinion of him as a moral and heroic character. This would be assumed in a normal fictitious theatrical work, but with this play, the writers create such a real setting and correctly depict the details of the Matthew Shepard crime, that the audience is led to believe that what is included in the play, is the full description and personality of every character.
    Although when originally reading The Laramie Project, this idea did not come to mind, I agree with Tigner's criticism. In my view, Moisés Kaufman and the members of the Tetonic Theater Project did a very good job at creating a captivating story, but that is all it is. It is realistic fiction that is based on a true event. I think that when writing the book, this idea should have somehow been mentioned, so as not to mislead readers. Readers are led to form opinions about characters and the town of Laramie by the twisting of words from the authors. For instance, the authors also lead the audience to believe that certain characters have connections, even when none exist. Tinger writes that editing "creates relationships among characters that may or may not have any real life connection, producing the pastoral community voice that reiterates the tragedy of the transcendent hero." By doing this, Kaufman and the Tetonic Theater Project capture the essence of a narrative. Some readers might disagree on the grounds that editing the interviews, without literally changing the words spoken by the interviewees, was necessary to create a piece of literature. Including all of the interviews would not have allowed the story to have been told in a theatrical manner. Some might believe that Kaufman and the Tetonic Theater Project depicted Laramie, Wyoming, its residents, and the Matthew Shepard events very truthfully. Yet, I would argue that they twisted the words of interviewees to fit the way they wanted the story depicted to audience members. Overall then, I believe that although The Laramie Project was very entertaining, I believe that the way the characters, the town, and the events were depicted were false.