Tacoma performance of ‘Laramie Project’ to benefit LGBT groups

In the wake of the Orlando massacre, local volunteers and actors are planning to show their support for victims by staging a reading of the play “The Laramie Project” on Sunday at the Tacoma Little Theatre.

Although the event is free, the group will be accepting donations at the 7:30 p.m. performance. Money raised will benefit Equality Florida and Rainbow Center, a Tacoma support center for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Rachel Fitzgerald, a Tacoma actress and director, said she decided to organize the performance after asking herself, “What can I do to make this better?”

“I’m an actor and I have been probably since birth,” Fitzgerald said. “So I didn’t know how I could help, but I knew I could do this.”

Having acted in “The Laramie Project” before, Fitzgerald said the play was a fitting choice. It follows the real story of the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 and addresses LGBT issues and hate crimes, both factors that connect it to the nightclub shooting that left 49 people dead in Florida.

The play “touches on a lot of aspects of things that we’re still dealing with today,” Fitzgerald said.

A call for actors and volunteers on Fitzgerald’s Facebook page quickly drew 31 actors who volunteered to join the cast of “The Laramie Project.” One of the actresses, Jenifer King, said volunteers are coming from as far away as Olympia and Edmonds.

Actor Jeremy Thompson, who is playing several parts in Sunday’s production, including Matthew Shepard’s father, said the play’s message is more relevant than ever.

“Unfortunately, as we were looking at the text again, not much has changed, and this happened in 1998,” he said. “So much of what this community had to say… that’s all still current and holds up today.”

King said that plays like “The Laramie Project” provide a way for audiences to understand and process emotions like grief and anger.

“People are only able to access it through a production,” King said. “It touches people in a new way, in an important way.”

Thompson said he hopes that this play provides a space for people to collectively work through personal pain caused by the massacre.

“It’s an opportunity just to come together and to say this happened and we’re hurting and here’s something we can do,” he said. “To know (we’re) not alone.”

Tacoma Little Theatre is located at 210 N. I St.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Tacoma performance of ‘Laramie Project’ to benefit LGBT groups."