The world was rightfully outraged earlier this year when Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a shooting spree inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
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But there was barely a ripple of protest almost 20 years ago when Matthew Shepard was found tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.
The 21-year-old University of Wyoming student had been severely beaten, robbed, tortured and left to die because he was gay.
Shepard died five days later on October 12, 1998.
Five weeks after this horrific event, Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Company travelled to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted over 200 interviews with people of the town.
These Interviews, as well as journal entries and other found texts, form the basis of The Laramie Project, set to open at Wollongong Workshop Theatre on Friday.
‘’After the tragic events of Orlando, this play became very real and something that needed to be done,’’ director Gabi Harding said.
‘’It’s sad to see that the very discussions that were being had in the events after Matthew’s death are recurring almost 20 years later.’’
The play itself involves 11 cast members playing about five or six characters each, embodying mannerisms and speech for each character transition.
The director said the cast ‘’are fantastic’’
‘’They have worked so hard in making the play and the people as real as possible. We have worked collaboratively in researching the event and the people involved to do the play justice,’’ she said.
Harding added having to deal with some of the more confronting themes, scenes and viewpoints expressed in the play was tricky.
Being a verbatim piece, the cast and crew needed to understand that everything said in the play was said by actual people caught up in the aftermath of Shepard’s death.
‘’It’s been challenging for everyone to almost go back in time and put themselves into small town America with those small town ideals and thoughts,’’ Harding said.
The play mainly describes the thoughts and feelings of the events after the death but there is still a message of hope that runs throughout.
The Laramie Project runs from October 7-15 on Fridays, Saturdays (8pm) and Sunday from 4pm at Wollongong Workshop Theatre’s premises at 190 Gipps Rd, Gwynneville.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 concession, with $5 from each ticket going to a LGBT charity. Bookings at https://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=229834 or 0467 091 146.
