Ten years after his brutal murder, Matthew Shepard’s legacy lives on in the latest Sydney production of The Laramie Project, writes Adam Bub.

On October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was lured by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson to an outer area of the small American town of Laramie, Wyoming.

There he was tied to a fence, beaten and hung like a scarecrow, dying in hospital five days later. Now serving life sentences in prison, the killers used the infamous ‘gay panic defence’ in court to justify their actions.

Inspired by the vicious tragedy, the Tectonic Theatre Group and New York playwright Moisés Kaufman interviewed over 200 Laramie locals to piece together a collage of the townspeople’s responses. In 2000, The Laramie Project was born.

From its launch in Denver, the play has since attracted worldwide acclaim and even become part of some school syllabuses.

The Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS) is contributing to the legacy by restaging The Laramie Project, after its successful run in the 2004 Mardi Gras Festival. This time, the show will be launched with the University of Sydney’s 2008 Pride Week on Monday, April 7, with a special charity performance for ACON on Saturday, April 19.

The shocking hate crime was one of the first to gain a high international profile, leaving a lasting warning about prejudice and the harm it can cause, as Christopher Hay, Director of SUDS’ show, tells SX. “The case in question is about a homophobic hate crime, but it is about hate on every level, and I think everybody has experienced that.

“When something happens that is a violent expression of prejudice, whether it be the killing of a gay person or something like race riots, we can’t get away from having to own that, because it’s our society that has produced it, or it’s the way we’ve taught young people that has allowed this to happen.”

The SUDS cast and crew are sticking closely to the script for authenticity, says Hay. The Brechtian ‘verbatim theatre’ style of the piece means that the actors are actually playing a company of actors putting together the facts through the eyes of over 60 different characters.

For a cast of only eight, this is an enormous challenge. “The play embraces the idea that we know we are not these people,” reveals Hay, “we are just suggesting them to you, or recounting what they said.”

The company is comprised of students aged 18-25 with varying experience. Hay has worked as an assistant drama teacher in the UK, and is currently studying an Arts/Law degree at Sydney University, where he has directed previous SUDS shows including Patrick Marber’s Closer.

SUDS is one of Australia’s oldest theatre companies, and one of the largest societies of the University of Sydney Union, with an illustrious alumni that includes Neil Armfield, Germaine Greer and Tommy Murphy, to name a few.

The fact that the cast and crew are all students is appropriate given that Shepard was a student himself, studying political science and languages at the University of Wyoming. However the play is designed specifically for a group of young actors making sense of the world, who can bring a raw vitality.

The townspeople’s attitudes have often proved confronting for the cast. “One of the real challenges of the piece is to make sure that every view is heard,” says Hay, “and that none of these views are judged by us as performers before the audience gets a chance to make up their own mind about what these people are saying.”

The timing could not be better, as just this week the Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard foundation, Shepard’s mother Judy, launched an anti-hate campaign in the US on Saturday at the 7th Annual Bear to Make a Difference Gala.

The message hits home in the wake of the recent anti-gay violence in Surry Hills, most notably the assault on Craig Gee and Shane Brennan in December 2007.

Since then, the local council, Surry Hills Police and other organisations have started working together to prevent future violence. In November 2007, Lord Mayor Clover Moore, the NSW Police and ACON’s Anti-Violence Project created a safe space on Oxford St for people to report violence and contact police and ambulance services, which buttresses ACON’s existing web and SMS reporting service.

Recently, the Surry Hills police increased dialogue with ACON after changes in their top level of command, as Superintendent Donna Adney and Crime Manager Shane Woolbank respectively replaced Darryl Donnelly and David Egan-Lee (SX # 369).

While community groups are taking action, SUDS’ production highlights that prejudice still exists. As the Matthew Shepard foundation website reminds us: “This tragedy helped the nation wake up to the fact that hate and discrimination still live in our communities, our schools and our families. Although his life was cut short, the impact of his spirit is great”.

The Laramie Project runs from April 9-19, Downstairs Theatre, Seymour Centre. Tix $15+bf/$12+bf from seymourcentre.com.au or call (02) 9351 7940. For more info, visit laramieproject.com.au.