In 2012, the Anselmian Abbey Players presented The Laramie Project, a play about the tragic murder of a gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998.  In 2016, the Abbey Players will revisit this event in The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.

Ten years after Shepard’s murder took place, the original writers of The Laramie Project, called the Tectonic Theater Project, returned to Laramie, Wyoming in order to understand the long-term effects of a hate crime on the community. The result of the Tectonic Theater Project’s return to Laramie is The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, a play that reveals the aftermath of such a violent act of homophobia and its influence on society today.

Dr. Landis Magnuson, professor in the English department and director of the Abbey Players, acknowledges that The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later holds special significance as an Abbey Players performance, because of its historical and cultural implications: “The murder of Matthew Shepard stands as a watershed moment in American history, and it is an honor to present the voices surrounding that terrible event and the aftermath that took place.”

Magnuson states that this play is particularly challenging, as twelve Abbey Players alone must present over 60 different characters, but it has also been “fun to help the actors in this show discover the different voices and different physical presentations of the range of characters presented.”

Assistant director Cole Crusciel ’20 and assistant director and stage manager Kate Dugas ’18 both share a passion for the Abbey Players and are humbled by their roles in helping direct The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.

Crusciel describes the show as a powerful story that plunges into the issue of division in society due to homophobia. Crusciel continues, “Being a freshman, I am happy to simply be involved with the Abbeys, so being a part of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later is an incredible privilege.”

Kate Dugas has also discovered the influence of such a powerful play: “This is the first show I’m working on that I can actually see changing the way people see the world.”

The Abbey Players must each present multiple characters, which present a unique opportunity for the actors involved. Student actress Julia Nosel ’19, among other characters, acts as the police officer who responded to the 911 call for the murder of Matthew Shepard and states that this role has taught her about the obstacles in passing hate crime legislation.

Student actress Kelsey Warner ’19 says her favorite part of this production has been her role as Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard, because “she shows what people usually forget after tragedies of a national scale: the victims’ families.” Student actor Garrett Meyer ’18 finds his role as homophobic murderer Aaron McKinney especially challenging, but asserts, “The story of Matthew Shepard needs to be told, so that we can all learn from this experience and hear why the life of this young man matters still to this day.”

The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later will be showing for three nights: November 3, 4, and 5 at 7:30pm. For more information, visit the Dana Center’s website.