The Murfreesboro Little Theatre concludes its 59th season at Walnut House with The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project.

In October 1998, 21-year-old University of Wyoming student Matthew Shephard was tied to a fence post, severely beaten, robbed, tortured and left alone to die in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His body battered, bloody, barely clinging to life, was discovered 18 hours later. He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He died five days later. The reason for this brutal crime? Matthew Shepard was gay.

The hate crime attracted vast attention worldwide, bringing sexual discrimination and violence to the forefront of public discourse. The Tectonic Theater Project, led by their founder Moisés Kaufman, traveled to Laramie in the aftermath of the murder with the intent of creating a theatrical portrait of a town coming to grips with horrible violence. Over the course of a year and a half, the group interviewed over 200 subjects, some directly related to the case and others regular citizens of Laramie. Out of these interviews, journal entries and found texts, The Laramie Project was born.

Officer Reggie Fluty performed by Zoë Zent

Hailed as one of the most captivating and encompassing pieces of contemporary theater, the play shocks, challenges and moves all who watch it as it reveals the lowest depths of hatred and greatest heights of compassion that lie within all human beings in any seemingly average community.

The Murfreesboro Little Theatre’s production of The Laramie Project will be performed at Walnut House (116 N. Walnut St., Murfreesboro). Performance dates are July 8, 9 and 10 at 7 p.m. and July 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 and under. For reservations and more information, visit mltarts.com or call at 615-893-9825.