12/09/2026
Thank you to Ilona and Stratford Press, another great review of The Laramie Project. If you've been unsure about coming, here is your sign. Grab a ticket for this Tuesday or Thursday night, ticket link in bio.
Review: A standout cast brings emotion and heart to a challenging play.
Reviewed by Ilona Hanne, photo / Tammie Pittwood Photography Ltd
If there is one piece of theatre everyone should see this year, it is The Laramie Project, performed with extraordinary skill and maturity by YoubeYou - Ngamotu Theatre for Youth
It’s a play everyone should see, not only because the play itself is an amazing piece of contemporary theatre, but because the young company bringing this particular version to life are so incredibly talented.
Written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, The Laramie Project remains as urgent today as it was nearly 30 years ago. The play centres on the 1998 torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay university student in Wyoming. Matthew was found tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, barely alive. His skull had been shattered, and he lay immobile in freezing temperatures for 18 hours. He survived long enough to reach hospital but died six days later.
The play is a piece of documentary theatre, drawn from hundreds of interviews conducted in Laramie in the weeks and months following Matthew’s death. Many of the words spoken on stage are verbatim, forming a mosaic of voices that reveal grief, prejudice, courage and community reckoning.
The production’s T shaped staging was incredibly effective. Audience members sat facing each other along two sides of a catwalk, with cast members positioned along that catwalk and on the main stage. This configuration placed the audience inside the story, creating the sense that we were eavesdropping as conversations and interviews took place.
With minimal props and no special effects, the cast themselves built each scene. Their voice work was exceptional, from the flawless American accents with not an error or slip was to be heard, to the cleverly layered vocal textures throughout the show. At times, groups spoke in unison to emphasise a point; at others, overlapping lines created a deliberate cacophony, heightening tension and emotional impact
Each performer played multiple characters, shifting seamlessly through changes in posture, voice and energy, aided only by small costume additions such as a hat, bike helmet or stethoscope. As with any performance, there were some absolute standouts on stage, and while I have selected a few for this review, I could just have easily selected ten or so others.
Eddie Wallace plays three characters during the play, including openly gay resident Jonas Slonaker, and the judge who presides over the eventual murder trial. It’s as barman Matt Galloway, who served both Matthew and the men who killed him on the night of the murder, that Eddie is at his best, with a nuanced character interpretation that shows both Matt’s natural confidence in himself alongside his regret that he didn’t foresee the murder and so prevent it.
Oscar Ellmoos, playing limo driver Doc O’Connor and mechanic Conrad Miller, demonstrates impressive physicality and character immersion, switching between roles with clarity and conviction.
Reuben Francis delivers a thoughtful performance as Jedadiah Schultz, a theatre student whose views evolve over the course of the play. Through Reuben’s portrayal, the audience experiences the conflicting emotions of someone appalled by the murder yet initially unsure how to relate to homosexuality, before ultimately challenging his parents’ views just one year later. From his opening lines, Reuben draws the audience fully into Jedadiah’s world.
Ethan Farquhar takes on a series of challenging, key characters, including the playwright himself Moisés Kaufman. In a piece of very clever casting, Ethan also plays two religious characters – the Catholic priest Father Roger Schmit, who is accepting of LGBTQI+ people and the notorious Fred Phelps – of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church – a real church that held protests at Matthew’s funeral and the two subsequent trials, with banners espousing hatred and intolerance for the LGBTQI+ community. Ethan portrays each character with nuance, managing to even give Fred some real depth – more, I would say, than the real Fred himself actually had.
Rosa Sergent plays Romaine Patterson, a friend of Matthew. She uses fantastic physicality on stage, showing real grief as she talks about Matthew, twisting her rings and hunching her body as she talks. Later on, that physicality is used well again, but this time, standing tall, almost belligerent as she takes action against hate, building an army of angels to block people from seeing Fred Phelps and his bigoted, hateful, crew.
Thomas Boniface gave a lovely performance over the evening, with his star moments coming as he played bar owner Matt Mickelson, giving a potted history of Laramie through his own family’s history in the town.
Neve Kerr is lovely to watch as Reggie Fluty, the young officer who first found Matthew and administered first aid. Her control of voice, physicality and expression was flawless throughout.
Tom Kerr played, among other characters, Aaron Kreifels, the cyclist who found Matthew tied to the fence. Tom plays Aaron very thoughtfully, especially as he questions why he was the one to find Matthew, and then later, answers his own question in one of the most moving lines of the evening.
“The reason that God wanted me to find him is, for he didn’t have to die out there alone”.
Honey Doorbar, as the hospital CEO delivering updates on Matthew’s condition, brought powerful emotion to her scenes, capturing the weight of responsibility and sorrow in a beautifully nuanced and thoughtful performance.
As Muslim feminist Zubaida Ula, Isabel Shinoj brings a very thoughtful performance to the stage. She has some of the best lines of the script when it comes to making people think and confront the hatred within their own community, and her delivery is goosebump creating.
Playing Matthew’s killers are Max Toon (playing Aaron McKinney) and Owen Roach (Russel Henderson). Hard roles for an actor of any age to play with sympathy and nuance, but these two actors not only rise to the challenge but set a high bar for future actors taking on these roles.
Every actor has clearly got right into the skin of their various characters, resulting in a performance that will get under the skin of each and every audience member, staying with them long after the play itself finishes.
Directors Lisa Stuck and Hamish Kerr, alongside producer Gordy Lockhart and the entire cast and crew have created a piece of theatre that confronts hate with honesty and compassion while showcasing the remarkable talent of YoubeYou – Ngāmotu Theatre for Youth.
Go see this show. Parents, take your teenagers. Teachers, take your students. Rangatahi, take your friends. Everyone—take someone, and help spread the message of love and inclusivity these young performers have brought so beautifully to life.
The Laramie Project: Playing now at Little Theatre, New Plymouth until September 19.
Tickets: $12.50 via www.tickettailor.com/events/youbeyouaotearoatrust/2276423
