Remembering Matthew Shepard: 25 Years Later

Matthew Shepard in black and white, a young caucasian man with blond short hair wearing a wool sweater.

Thursday, October 12

Performance: 6:30pm

Panel Discussion: 8pm

Promenade Hall

Free but ticketed

Performance runtime

90 minutes

Intended for mature audiences

Content warning: Homophobia, reference to murder, assault and physical violence, coarse language and adult situations.

Please join us for this free, staged reading of the first two acts of “The Laramie Project” by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Company, followed by a panel of LGBTQAI+ experts, allies and community members. Community resources available pre/post-show.

After Matthew’s murder in 1998, members of the Tectonic Theater Project in New York City traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, to interview residents about how the attack on Matt had affected the town. These transcripts were transformed into the play “The Laramie Project,” which tells the stories of real people who lived at the epicenter of one of the nation’s most heinous anti-gay hate crimes.

The Laramie Project is one of the most frequently performed plays in America, as its messages still resonate with audiences today. The Matthew Shepard Foundation supports dozens of productions of “The Laramie Project” and its epilogue “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later” every year across the country. It’s the goal of the Matthew Shepard Foundation to create an environment where people are afforded an opportunity to discuss the play and its messages, the hate they encounter in their own lives, and how they can work collectively to build a more understanding and compassionate community.

2013 Performance Program Notes

Stay after the reading for a panel discussion with local LGBTQ+ leaders and allies, moderated by Danez Smith. More information below.

This event is free, but tickets are required. Click the "BUY TICKETS" button to register for this event.

Stay after the reading for a panel discussion with local LGBTQ+ leaders and allies, moderated by Danez Smith.

A young african american man with short dark hair, brown eyes, and light facial hair looking towards the viewer with his head resting on his hand. He has a light orange shirt on and a creme colored watch.

Danez Smith (they/them)

Danez Smith is the author of three collections, including "Homie" and "Don’t Call Us Dead". For their work, Danez won the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Minnesota Book Award in Poetry, the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award in Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. Danez's poetry and prose has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New Yorker, GQ, Best American Poetry and on the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert. Danez is a member of the Dark Noise Collective. Former co-host of the Webby nominated podcast VS (Versus), they live in Minneapolis near their people. Their fourth collection of poems, "Bluff", is forthcoming in August 2024. 

Presented by GSAFE in partnership with Overture Center for the Arts’ Community Advisory Council and Children’s Theater of Madison with additional support by Forward Theater, New Harvest and MyArts-Madison Youth Arts Center.

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