OCEANSIDE — MiraCosta College’s Theatre Department presents “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later,” a drama surrounding the murder of Matthew Shepard. The play opens April 19 at the MiraCosta College Theatre, 1 Barnard Drive, directed by Eric Bishop.Performances are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. April 19, April 20 and April 25 through April 27 and at 2 p.m. April 21 and April 28. General admission is $12; seniors, $10; and students, $8. Also scheduled is a dramatic reading of the play that started it all, “The Laramie Project,” at 2 p.m. April 20 and 7:30 p.m. April 24, Tickets are $5.On Oct. 6, 1998, gay university student Matthew Shepard was beaten and tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, and left to die. He died six days later. A month after the murder, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town — including those close to the family of the victim and perpetrators — to try and understand why such a horrific hate crime could have occurred. The result was “The Laramie Project,” a jarring and honest play that interspersed dozens of those interviews with journal entries from Tectonic members.
A decade has passed and we return to Laramie to see what has changed — and what hasn’t. Has Matthew’s murder had a lasting impact on that community? How has the town changed because of this event? The results are surprising, life-altering and unforgettable.
The cast includes Tristan Vakili, Alex Cwalinsky, Natalie Bialostozky, Joshua Greenfield, Daniel Liuag, Bryan Taylor, Jose Balistrieri, Stevie Allen, Camilla Elizabet, Christopher Badillo, Ala Tiatia, Khamisi Butler, Patricia Fa’asua, Caroline Floto, Don Naegele, Jordan Daniels, Ala Titatia, Ginette Huertas, Erin Smith, Carol Naegele, Chris Braden, Amha Abebe, Ashlei O’Hair, Emerald Baker, Kelsey Huebscher and Ashlee Edwards.
Tickets are available online at miracosta.edu/events or by calling the MiraCosta College Box Office at (760) 795-6815.
