MONMOUTH, Ill. — A detailed look at the effects of one of the nation’s most famous hate crimes is the plot for the next Monmouth College Crimson Masque theater production, “The Laramie Project.”

Performances are Feb. 27-28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m., and March 2 at 2 p.m. at the Wells Theater, located at 9th Street and Broadway on the Monmouth College campus.

Admission is $6 for adults and $5 students and senior citizens and $4 for MC students, faculty and staff. Tickets may be ordered by contacting Bill Wallace at 309-457-2374 or billw@monm.edu.

A highly acclaimed play that was adapted into an HBO movie, “The Laramie Project,” is based on the 1998 slaying of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was murdered for being openly gay.

Playwright Moises Kaufman, along with members of the Tectonic Theater Project (TTP), went to Laramie, Wyo., shortly after the crime, investigating the incident and conducting interviews with the surrounding community. The group made six trips to Laramie in one year and performed more than 200 documented interviews. From these interviews, along with court records and personal journals, the group was able to create an inspiring re-production of the struggles and individual thoughts of a community undergoing the event’s aftermath.

One of the members of the group, Andy Paris, was on the MC campus last month to host a workshop with college students. The event featured discussions of how the TTP created “The Laramie Project,” and also included exercises to show others how to use the process.

Chris Sorensen, a friend of Paris and the son of recently retired MC education professor Frank Sorensen, will serve as the guest director. A New York actor, Sorensen was drawn to “The Laramie Project” after an invitation to see the first read-through of the play at the Atlantic Theatre Company School. Inspired by Paris’s immense passion for the subject matter, Sorensen suggested that Monmouth College do the show.

Paris, who graduated from the Experimental Theatre Wing and the Classical Studio at New

York University, also performed in HBO’s production of “The Laramie Project” with a cast that included Peter Fonda (“Easy Rider”), Amy Madigan (“Field of Dreams”), Camryn Manheim (“The Practice”), Janeane Garofalo (“Saturday Night Live!”) and Steve Buscemi (“Fargo”). The film was selected as the Opening Night Premiere at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

The Monmouth College cast includes Andrew Almburg of Malta, Aaron Cluka of Monmouth, Becky Duncan of Erie, Tina Mayer of Lincoln, Lindsey Markel of Sidell, Emily Mitsdarffer of Blue Island, Malory Payne of Oregon, Andrew Rubia of Park Forest and Troy Stark of Rock Island. Travis McKee, a junior from Broken Arrow, Okla., will provide original music for the production and Katie Mirsky, a senior from Hampshire, is the assistant director. Theater professor Doug Rankin is designing the show.

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