St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ga., is staging a May 18 production of the “The Laramie Project,” a play chronicling the aftershocks of gay college stuedent Matthew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998.
As part of the church’s 50th anniversary celebration, St. Thomas has staged a series of events to reach out to different aspects of Columbus’ community, including hosting forums on racism and the Anglican ambassador to the United Nations.
“The Episcopal Church has never been shy in understanding that faith relates to real life,” said Debbie Anderson, co-director of the play.
The idea to stage ‘The Laramie Project’ started with the church's priest, who suggested the church reach out to Columbus' growing gay population. The reaction from the 500-member congregation has been positive.
“People are reserving tickets, which I'm happy to see, because we didn't know what kind of reaction we'd receive,” Anderson said. “Overall it's been very positive and fostered some very positive conversations, I think.”
Several conversations have focused on if the murder qualified as a hate crime, and if it would have merited the death penalty for the two men found guilty of killing Shepard.
“Some people say that Matthew Shepard is 50 percent responsible because of his actions. It's the same idea that the woman would be partially responsible for being raped, as if by her clothing she was somehow responsible,” Anderson said. “We're still fighting that misconception. People don't ask to be raped.”
Roughly half of the 20-person cast is comprised of church members. The play is based upon interviews of people in Laramie, Wyo., the town where Shepard was killed, conducted by the Tectonic Theater Project. It follows various members of the college town struggling to deal with the effects of Shepard’s beating and subsequent death.
Performances are free, but due to limited space the church is asking attendees to call in to reserve seats.
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