“The Laramie Project” is a documentary-style play centered on the October 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old college student at the University of Wyoming. Shepard was brutally beaten, tied to a fence and left to die on the plains outside Laramie Wyoming because he was gay. The event focused international attention on human rights and a lack of hate-crime laws across the country and the world. The play enacts interviews given by residents in the aftermath of the murder, some unconnected with the tragedy, and some intimately involved.

Algonquin’s production of “The Laramie Project” includes 20 student actors and 10 backstage student crew members and is co-directed by Drama Teacher Maura Morrison and Biology Teacher Brian Kelly.

Performances are Thursday, February 27, 2020, in-school, and Friday, February 28, 2020 at 7:00 pm.  It is the ARHS entry in this year’s Mass Educational Theatre Guild (METG) Festival on Saturday, February 29, 2020. Algonquin is hosting the METG festival again this year and welcoming Gloucester HS and St. Sebastian’s HS.  All performances will be in the ARHS Black Box. Friday night’s performance is free for students and $10 for Adults. Saturday is a $12 fee to attend the 3 shows performing for the METG 2020 festival.