Little Theatre of Alexandria hosting ‘The Laramie Project’ fundraiser this month

The Little Theatre of Alexandria (600 Wolfe Street) is hosting a pair of staged reading events over the next two weeks to commemorate the murder of Matthew Shepard and raise funding for The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Shepard, a young gay man in Laramie, Wyoming, was beaten, tortured and killed in a hate crime. Shepard’s murder sparked awareness of and advocacy for hate crime legislation, including the launch of the LGBT nonprofit Matthew Shepard Foundation by his parents.

The Little Theatre of Alexandria is producing a reading of The Laramie Project, a play first produced in 2000 to explore and understand what happened to Shepard, including text from real interviews with people connected to the murder.

The readings are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, and Thursday, Oct. 12.

Tickets are $20 and benefit The Matthew Shepard Foundation.

According to the theatre’s website:

Kaufman and the other company members visited Laramie on six occasions and interviewed residents, members of the police force, and Matthew’s friends, in an attempt to understand what happened, and why. They were also interested in the possibility that theatre, more than any other medium, would allow people to engage with and reflect on the issues brought to public attention by Matthew’s murder, such as homophobia, hatred, intolerance, and fear. The Laramie Project takes those real interviews and weaves them into the story of events surrounding the murder and the months beyond. This staged reading at LTA will be performed exactly 25 years from the date Matthew was attacked and the date he died in the hospital.