ISU theater members rehearsing for their upcoming production of The Laramie ProjectΠhad the opportunity to speak with one of the authors and actors of the original play.

A handful of people gathered in Pearson Hall Wednesday to speak with Barbara Pitts about her involvement with the script depicting the people of Laramie, Wyo., in the months and years that followed a hate crime that killed Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay student at the University of Wyoming.

Shepard was beaten by two men, tied to a fence and left for dead on Oct. 6, 1998.

Before Pitts addressed the group, she asked everyone to have a moment of silence for Shepard. After 30 seconds of silence, Pitts wiped tears from her eyes, and began.

This boy I never met really changed my life,Œ Pitts says. I just wanted to connect with that before we started talking about my career.Œ

Because of her involvement with The Laramie Project,Œ which later became an HBO movie, Pitts is now an Emmy-nominated writer. She has had many opportunities arise since her involvement with the play, including chances to speak with theater companies¡ productions of the play.

Pitts has spent the past few days attending rehearsals for ISU Theatre¡s production of the The Laramie Project.Œ

A month after Shepard¡s death, The Tectonic Theater Project, a nonprofit theater company from New York, decided to go to Laramie and write a play about how residents were reacting to the murder that thrust their city of about 27,000 into the national spotlight. Pitts was asked to go along.

I knew this was an opportunity I didn¡t want to miss,Œ Pitts told about 10 people Wednesday. She and the theater company spent a year and a half gathering more than 200 stories of the people of Laramie. Then they all sat in a circle and took turns recreating for each other the people they had interviewed.

We would write moments together,Œ Pitts says. We created theatrical moments, and that collaboration is why I¡m credited as a screenwriter.Œ

Pitts met women in Laramie who had important things to say, but who inevitably weren¡t written into the play.

You have to be super invested and then let go,Œ Pitts says. I would really allow myself to create that character and realize it may never show up in the play.Œ

Pitts says the play is well-rounded because the people involved in the interviewing process had their own niche.

Everybody has at least one person in Laramie they really connected with,Œ Pitts says. We all developed things we were interested in.Œ

In the ISU Theatre¡s production, 10 actors will represent 70 characters.

Each actor plays a multitude of characters,Œ says Jane Cox, associate professor of music. It¡s really a great challenge. The actors have to be good to get the variety of characters to come out.Œ

Director Robin Stone and ISU Theatre will present The Laramie ProjectΠat the Fisher Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, 5, 11 and 12 and 2 p.m. on Oct. 6.

The play recreates the Tectonic Theatre Project¡s visit to Laramie, and the people and reactions they met while they were there. The Laramie ProjectŒ was the second-most produced play of last year.

Matthew looked like he could have been anybody¡s son,Œ Pitts says. It really struck a chord with people in America.Œ