The Laramie Project

In “Moment: Alison and Marge,” company member Greg Pierotti introduces us to two local women, Alison and Marge. They reflect on how Laramie has changed over the years. When Marge was younger, it was more rural and private. She also suggests that class is a significant issue in Laramie, with a wide gulf between the elite jobs at the University of Wyoming, upon which the town’s economy relies, and the minimum wage service jobs available to the majority of the town’s residents.

Pierotti steers the conversation to Matthew and Marge admits that she feels close to the case. She claims to be unperturbed by homosexuality—as long as gay people leave her alone—and that this attitude of “live and let live” (30) is shared by the majority of people in Laramie. At the same time, she acknowledges that if a gay person did flirt with someone in a Laramie bar, they might be attacked. She hints that she knows more than what she’s told Pierotti but refuses to say more in case the play is staged in Laramie.

The next moment is entitled “Matthew” and gives us our first impression of the young man at the center of The Laramie Project.