"The Laramie Project" Coming To Mitchell College On Friday, Saturday

The Mitchell College Drama Society has added an additional play to its usual lineup of two each year, staging productions of The Laramie Project on Friday and Saturday.

The performances will take place at the Clarke Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, with an additional performance taking place at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The Laramie Project was put together by the Tectonic Theater Project, which also created a film version of the performance for HBO. The play reflects the theater group's interviews with residents of Laramie, Wyo., following the murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard in 1998. Shepard was tied to a fence on the outskirts of the community and brutally beaten, dying six days later. The murder was considered an anti-gay hate crime.

"The Drama Society does a fall production and a spring musical every year. This year, however, we decided to add The Laramie Project as a third production because we felt that we wanted to do our part to highlight how devastating hatred and bullying can be after all that has gone on in our country of late," faculty advisor Donna Moss Ogle said in a statement. "We wanted to emphasize the fact that we all need to work together to end prejudice and discrimination."

The college is working with with SAVE, its anti-bullying club, and LGBTQIA, its gay-straight alliance, for the production. Mayor Daryl Finizio, who is openly gay, will speak before the 2 p.m. performance on Saturday.

The show has adult themes and is not recommended for young children. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for Mitchell faculty and staff, $5 for non-Mitchell students, and $2 for Mitchell students. For more information, contact Ogle at ogle_d@mitchell.edu or 860-701-5433.

Cast and crew includes:

• Rebecca Sadowki, Goshen, Conn.
• Jared Konsker, Jericho, N.Y.
• Nick Davis, Morristown, N.J.
• Mike Crane, Old Lyme, Conn.
• Andrew Medeiros, Seekonk, Mass.
• Lizzie Berger-Gutierrez, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Emily Sherwood, Lovettsville, Va.
• Liz Binger, Niantic, Conn.
• Joshua Kelly, a senior at Waterford High School

Residence hall director Alexis Benson is directing the performance; Rachael Steele and Deborah Lee are stage managers.

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