But while some would expect "The Laramie Project" to promote gay rights, the play chose to condemn the hatefulness prompting Shepard's murder.
The play, which opened at the Paul Green Theatre, explores healing after tragedy, specifically in the aftermath of the Shepard murder. Through the stories of roughly 50 people, the eight-actor cast portrays the residents of Laramie, Wyo., where Shepard was killed. Each of them was attempting to make sense of Shepard's murder beyond the issue of his homosexuality.
"This is not a pro-gay play, it's an anti-hate play," said Director David Hammond. "It's about opening up people's hearts."
He said the play has a broader scope than just the Laramie murder so that people can understand and learn its anti-hate message.
Hammond said the concept of healing from hate is the pervasive theme in this play, which is based on 200 hours of interviews with Laramie residents after Shepard's October 1998 death.
Every word spoken in the play is taken verbatim from those interviews. The actors are portraying actual, living people through their own words, which actors said created an interesting challenge.
"There is a real sense of responsibility there because some playwright didn't write these words. These are transcribed words of real individuals," said actor Jeffrey Blair Cornell, who portrays several Laramie residents in the play. "They are getting us closer to their truth."
Both Hammond and Cornell stressed the necessity of self-examination in the face of a hate crime. Cornell pointed out that this self-examination also extends to the audience of "The Laramie Project."
"The audience in turn chooses what to embrace as they recognize those people that they agree with and those they don't agree with," he said.
