By Briyah Paley

Laramie, Wyo., the place where Matthew Shepard was left tied to a fence for 18 hours in near-freezing temperatures, is the subject of “The Laramie Project,” which was performed last week by the Northeastern Theater Department under the direction of Nancy Kindelan.

They will present the play again this week from Wednesday, Oct. 15 through Saturday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. The play is always put on in October since Oct. 12 marks the anniversary of Shepard’s death.

The show is two hours and 40 minutes long, with two intermissions.

Shepard was persecuted because of his sexual orientation – he was homosexual.

After his murder, director Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project decided to do something about it. They traveled to Laramie to interview members of the town and find out what went on and, more importantly, the citizens’ reactions to it.

They created the play based on real interviews they conducted over the course of a few visits to Laramie. Kaufman and his group portray the town respectfully, but also realistically, and the truth can hurt as the actors carry the emotional weight throughout the performance.

Shepard never appears in the work, but his presence is all around and he is referred to as an angel. His father calls him his “hero.”

Meghan Moore, a middler physics major walked slowly out of the Studio Theatre on Friday night.

“It was very powerful and very well done,” she said. Her friend Darryl Fuller, a middler information sciences major agreed.

“It gets you thinking,” Fuller said. “It really does.”

There are some lines in the play, which was made into a film by HBO two years ago, which leave a lasting message in the audience’s minds.

As the two young men are put on trial for their role in killing Shepard, every character has an opinion of what they would like to see happen.

The detective of the town says, “Change is not an easy thing. I don’t think people are up to it here.”

Romaine, one of Shepard’s close friends says of the trial, “What’s come out of it that’s concrete or lasting?”

Many of the townspeople are worried that their home will appear to be the “Hell hole of the earth.”

“In turn, it’s up to how Laramie behaves,” says one woman.

Mike Satow, a freshman theater major, wasted no time getting involved in Northeastern’s theater production.

“It was overwhelming, [the cast is] mostly upperclassmen, but they were very supportive.”

Satow plays many roles, as do all of the actors, but perhaps his most memorable is the detective of the town who has to say very difficult lines about the town’s perspective on homosexuals and also his own.

David Lucas, a junior theater major, said, “I feel alive, especially with a play like this. It’s an intense piece if you’re not a theaer major. The director really pushed us.”

Amy Moczygemba, a senior theater major, had read the play before but points out that “this play isn’t about us, it’s about Matthew Shepard.”

John Fagan, a junior theater major said, “It’s an amazingly written play. Every night is an emotionally draining night, even during rehearsals. I just go home and go to bed.”

Fagan, who came into the production at the last minute, was already familiar with the play, having read it in his “Theater in Society” class.

“It’s humbling because the writing is real writing and so good and perfect,” Fagan said.