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  • A poster in the display case outside of New World Arts on Main Street in Goshen advertises the play "The Laramie Project." Roger Schneider

    laramie project
August 2, 2012

New World Arts play deals with violence against homosexuals

By AMANDA GRAY THE GOSHEN NEWS

GOSHEN — Though the inspiration was atrocious, “The Laramie Project,” a play showing at New World Arts, hopes to spread a message of understanding and illumination to hate crimes, according to artistic director Adrienne Nesbitt.

“The Laramie Project,” written by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project out of New York City, is a play based on the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., in 1998. Shepard was homosexual, and his murder deeply affected the community and nation, according to Nesbitt.

“This theater group went to Laramie and did over 200 interviews to come up with the script of the play,” Nesbitt said. “They did interviews with the members of the community, people who experienced this.”

The play’s unique format — part interview, part re-enactment, part media coverage of the event — shows various perspectives and helps the audience understand what happened from several angles, according to Nesbitt.

“I’m very glad we’re doing this play,” she said. “People often think that, ‘Oh, that couldn’t happen in our town.’ But this puts perspective on the fact that it could happen anywhere.”

Nesbitt said the cast of the play is made up of four men and four women who play more than 90 characters combined, a daunting task that they undertake well, using subtle changes in voice and movement to indicate new characters. The cast is made up of regional actors from Goshen, Elkhart and South Bend.

Nesbitt also said that the variety of the cast helps convey the message.

“The cast is very eclectic, in many ways including and other than sexual orientation, such as age,” she said. “It bridges a lot of gaps. After Sunday’s performance, we’re doing a ‘talk back’ with the audience where they can ask the cast any questions they have.”

Nesbitt said she had her eyes opened to the inclusive quality of the project when she took her father, who is in his 50s, to the opening night performance.

“It was so refreshing to see someone in his 50s turn to me as say, ‘People need to hear this story,’” she said. “It didn’t happen too long ago, only in 1998. People do remember this happening.”

More information on the play is available at New World Arts’ website, www.newworldarts.org. More information on Matthew Shepard and the foundation created in his memory is available at www.matthewshepard.org.

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