Discuss the myths you can identify in the play The Laramie Project. How are they relevant to the play as a whole?

I think that the use of myths is extremely important to
Kaufman’s work.  It is mythology that makes Matt Shepard’s murder and the denial
surrounding it a reality.  It is mythology that confounds the people of Laramie, the
outsiders who come in to visit it, as well as the Tectonic Actors, who must make sense
of why these myths exist and their significance to what happened to Matt Shepard.  One
such myth is about the issue of being gay.  There are many myths that are associated
with homosexuality that are explored in the play.  From the religious condemnation, to
the townspeople who do not openly say anything against it, but are not supportive, to
those who cleave to Laramie’s supposed goodness in the attempt to not have to face the
awful truth about what happened to Matt Shepard, all of these myths play a significant
role in the play.  I would say that another myth that is present is one responsibility. 
This myth says that Shepard’s murder and gruesome death were isolated incidents and do
not signify a larger pattern. This is a myth that is exposed for what it is in the
drama, also.