State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) Theatre presents Moisés Kaufman’s “The Laramie Project” at 8 p.m. Oct. 5, 6, 12 and 13, and 2 p.m. Oct. 7 and 14, at the David S. & Anne V. Howard Studio Theatre, SCF Bradenton, 5840 26th St. W.
Amanda Schlachter directs the play 20 years after Matthew Shepard, a young gay man, was discovered tied to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming. He was savagely beaten and left to die in an act of hate that shocked the nation. The script is written around how Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance. For the town’s people, the event was deeply personal, and the audience will hear from them in what is described as a “stunningly effective theater piece,” and “a deeply complex portrait of a community.”
The cast includes SCF theatre students Samuel Echevarria Jr., Kelsey Fisher, Thomasa Hagney, Jack Heckler, Jacob Jones, Easton Laviolette, Michael Longobardi, Jacob Owens and Macey Reynolds, and SCF Collegiate School students Emily Canavarros and Kathryn Daniel. Dual-enrolled student Rachel Cook and guest artist/staff member Carolyn Zaput also will appear in the production.
Reserved seats are $12 for adults and $6 for SCF staff and all Florida students. Tickets go on sale Sept. 25 through the SCF Neel Performing Arts Center box office. The Howard Studio Theatre box office opens one hour before each performance. For more information, contact the box office at 941-752-5252.