This year, Normal West will be putting on ‘The Laramie Project’ for the fall play. The play is a true story about a horrible hate crime that happened in 1998, when Matthew Shepard was tied to a pole, beaten, and left to die.

The play reviews the backstory, and events, that led up to his death. The show is compromised of interviews from various people in the town that Matthew was close to, including friends, teachers, and other acquaintances.

The play is widely respected because it tells the real story of what happened to Matthew Shepard.  At the time, most of the media coverage was incorrect at best, and purposefully spewing lies at worst.

The cast for the play is comprised of Brenna Long(12), Ben Eddy((12), Emma Gilmer(12), Anna Birsa(12), Amara Shepard(10), Jack Abraham(12), Jack Courtad(10), Nathaniel Oakley(11), Sarah Shaw(12), Andrea Wagoner(12), and Adeline Schwarzendruber(9).

The director, Mr. Ryan Kerr, said, “I believe this cast will be able to give a great performance of this show. We understand that it’s more serious than plays we’ve done in the past, but I believe the kids will do it justice.”  

Mr. Kerr’s faith in the cast is well placed because most cast members have had previous experience in performance and theater, either in past plays and musicals or on the speech team. The only newcomer is Jack Abraham.

“Jack really surprised everyone when he got up on stage and slayed his audition, he’d never done anything in theater before so we were all really shocked,” said fellow cast member Nathaniel Oakley. “I believe we’re all ready to put on a great show.”

The show is October 27th, 28th, and 29th. Tickets will be sold for five dollars.