Cal Poly, and more than 100 other schools nationwide, will participate in a historic event tonight to commemorate the life of a young college student, Matthew Shepard, the victim of a hate crime.
“The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” is a staged reading examining the attitudes of the residents of Laramie, Wyoming, Shepard’s hometown. It also examines the progress made since the original “Laramie Project.”
“Being as this event will be a part of history, it’s a chance to see something that more than 130 schools will be watching at the same time,” Steve Lerian, director of Cal Poly Arts said.
In 1998, Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming at Laramie. On Oct. 12, 1998, two students kidnapped him, tied him to a fence, beat him and left him to die because he was gay. He died as a result of the hate and discrimination against him. He has since become and icon for equality and minority acceptance.
In the original production, Laramie residents were interviewed and their reactions to the horrific event were recorded by the Tectonic Theater Project — an award-winning company that performs all over the world — which produced the play on Shepard’s behalf. It was later adapted as an HBO movie and nominated for four Emmys in 2002.
In 2008, the Tectonic Theater Project went back to Laramie to re-interview the town concerning Shepard’s murder. The purpose was to see what progress has been made, if any, within those 10 years.
Each performance will take place tonight on the 12th anniversary of Shepard’s death.
At Cal Poly, there will be a staged reading with ten actors sharing information from the town after those 10 years. Furthermore, the recording from the New York production will be played, showing Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard”s mother, and followed by a question-and-answer session.
Jeffrey Azevedo, a Cal Poly electrical engineering and theater graduate, is directing the event. He first heard of Shepard’s death in the sixth grade and still remembers talking about it in class. It’s important to have this performance and to see how far we’ve come in the last 10 years, he said.
“This is so unique and (it’s) great to be a part of something of this magnitude,” Azevedo said. “Hopefully this will generate discussion and give people a better understanding of what’s going on.”
“The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” is a free event, and donations will be accepted for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Cal Poly Arts and SLO AIDS Support Network. The performance will be held at Chumash Auditorium at 8 p.m. tonight.