Full Week Schedule (OCT. 8TH - 14TH, 2023)
remembering matthew shepard: 25th memorial event
Date: Sunday, October 8th
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm MST
Location: The Library Sports Grille & Brewery (201 E Custer St, Laramie, WY 82070) 2nd Floor
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
Information:
25 Years later, we as a community remember. On October 6th, 1998 Matthew Wayne Shepard a LGBTQ+ Laramie community member and student at the University of Wyoming was taken from the Fireside Lounge and was beaten and left for dead on the outskirts of town. Days later on October 12th, 1998 Matthew Separd passed away from his injuries from this brutal murder. This hate crime caught the attention of the world and from this tragedy his parents Dennis and Judy Shepard have advanced his legacy to enact change & reform for nationwide equality. Some of these notable accomplishments are: the founding of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009.
On October 8th, 2023 Laramie Pridefest and Shepard Symposium on Social Justice will be hosting a memorial event 25 years later at the Library Sports Bar and Grille (formerly the Fireside Lounge), to honor, recognize and be present with one another while remembering Matthew Shepard. This event will feature speakers who will reflect on their own experiences being a part of both the LGBTQ+ and Laramie community and what Matthew Shepard’s legacy means to them. There will be a moment of silence along with a candlelight vigil held at the end, remembering Matthew Shepard and all those in marginalized communities who continue to be affected by hate crimes today.
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm MST
Location: The Library Sports Grille & Brewery (201 E Custer St, Laramie, WY 82070) 2nd Floor
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
Information:
25 Years later, we as a community remember. On October 6th, 1998 Matthew Wayne Shepard a LGBTQ+ Laramie community member and student at the University of Wyoming was taken from the Fireside Lounge and was beaten and left for dead on the outskirts of town. Days later on October 12th, 1998 Matthew Separd passed away from his injuries from this brutal murder. This hate crime caught the attention of the world and from this tragedy his parents Dennis and Judy Shepard have advanced his legacy to enact change & reform for nationwide equality. Some of these notable accomplishments are: the founding of the Matthew Shepard Foundation and the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009.
On October 8th, 2023 Laramie Pridefest and Shepard Symposium on Social Justice will be hosting a memorial event 25 years later at the Library Sports Bar and Grille (formerly the Fireside Lounge), to honor, recognize and be present with one another while remembering Matthew Shepard. This event will feature speakers who will reflect on their own experiences being a part of both the LGBTQ+ and Laramie community and what Matthew Shepard’s legacy means to them. There will be a moment of silence along with a candlelight vigil held at the end, remembering Matthew Shepard and all those in marginalized communities who continue to be affected by hate crimes today.
Elevating Voices Concert - SPinning Light: An Original Piece by Dr. Anne Guzzo
Date: Monday, October 9th
Time: 7:30pm MST/Doors 7:00pm MST
Location: Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: The Shepard Symposium is delighted to announce our headline event featuring the commissioned premier of Spinning Light by Dr. Anne Marie Guzzo with soloist Dr. Erik Erlandson, conducted by Katherine Marie Smith, and including solo and chamber works performed by UW Music faculty & guests. Anne Guzzo is a Laramie native lesbian composer and activist. One of her motivations for this piece is to try and reverse some of the harm to the Wyoming reputation the media delivered when they covered Matthew’s murder. Much of the coverage and many of the works that were created in the aftermath left out themes of queer joy, hope, and the beauty and support of the Wyoming community. Anne hopes to imbue a sense of, yes, mourning and commemoration into the piece, but also a darkness that gives way to light. So many beautiful, hopeful, joyous things have come out of such a terrible tragedy. There is so much support, joy, and hope in the Wyoming community. Anne hopes to bring some of that to the piece through the metaphor of the birth of a star.
Time: 7:30pm MST/Doors 7:00pm MST
Location: Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: The Shepard Symposium is delighted to announce our headline event featuring the commissioned premier of Spinning Light by Dr. Anne Marie Guzzo with soloist Dr. Erik Erlandson, conducted by Katherine Marie Smith, and including solo and chamber works performed by UW Music faculty & guests. Anne Guzzo is a Laramie native lesbian composer and activist. One of her motivations for this piece is to try and reverse some of the harm to the Wyoming reputation the media delivered when they covered Matthew’s murder. Much of the coverage and many of the works that were created in the aftermath left out themes of queer joy, hope, and the beauty and support of the Wyoming community. Anne hopes to imbue a sense of, yes, mourning and commemoration into the piece, but also a darkness that gives way to light. So many beautiful, hopeful, joyous things have come out of such a terrible tragedy. There is so much support, joy, and hope in the Wyoming community. Anne hopes to bring some of that to the piece through the metaphor of the birth of a star.
An Afternoon Conversation with Tectonic Theater Project & the 25th Memorial Cast of The Laramie Project
Date: Wednesday October 11th
Time: 12:00pm MST, doors open at 11:30 MST
Location: University of Wyoming Arts & Sciences Auditorium
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: A live discussion and Q & A with the Tectonic Theatre Project and The Laramie Project: 25th Anniversary Staged Reading cast. Please bring a memento to donate to the Matthew Shepard bench that represents "Queer Joy" to you.
Time: 12:00pm MST, doors open at 11:30 MST
Location: University of Wyoming Arts & Sciences Auditorium
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: A live discussion and Q & A with the Tectonic Theatre Project and The Laramie Project: 25th Anniversary Staged Reading cast. Please bring a memento to donate to the Matthew Shepard bench that represents "Queer Joy" to you.
the laramie project reading with the tectonic theatre project
Date: Wednesday October 11th
Time: 7:30pm MST, doors open at 7:00pm MST
Location: University of Wyoming Buchanan Center for Performing Arts Main Stage (1000 E University Ave Laramie, WY 82071)
Admission: Purchase Tickets Here ($8.00), Open to the Public
About: UWYO Theatre & Dance Department, Tectonic Theatre Project, Shepard Symposium on Social Justice & WYOpen Stages cordially invite you to the 25th anniversary staged reading of The Laramie Project. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death and the work of Tectonic Theater Project members to interview residents about the attack and its aftermath, this WYOpenStages reading tells the stories of the real people who lived at the epicenter of one of the nation’s most heinous anti-gay hate crimes. Created by Moises Kaufman and Members of Tectonic Theater ProjectDirected by Jeffrey LaHoste Tectonic Theater Project Co-founder
Wednesday, October 11, 7:30pm BCPA Main Stage
Time: 7:30pm MST, doors open at 7:00pm MST
Location: University of Wyoming Buchanan Center for Performing Arts Main Stage (1000 E University Ave Laramie, WY 82071)
Admission: Purchase Tickets Here ($8.00), Open to the Public
About: UWYO Theatre & Dance Department, Tectonic Theatre Project, Shepard Symposium on Social Justice & WYOpen Stages cordially invite you to the 25th anniversary staged reading of The Laramie Project. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death and the work of Tectonic Theater Project members to interview residents about the attack and its aftermath, this WYOpenStages reading tells the stories of the real people who lived at the epicenter of one of the nation’s most heinous anti-gay hate crimes. Created by Moises Kaufman and Members of Tectonic Theater ProjectDirected by Jeffrey LaHoste Tectonic Theater Project Co-founder
Wednesday, October 11, 7:30pm BCPA Main Stage
Social Justice Literacy: Presentation & Workshop Sessions
Date: Thursday October 12th
Time: 8am-5pm MST
Location: Wyoming Student Union Ballroom (Union 2nd Floor)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: Click Here for the Full Schedule
Social Justice Literacy begins with learning. Join us on Thursday, October 12th for a day full of presentations and workshops regarding social justice literacy with friends, community members, and professionals from across the country. Each session offers opportunities to connect with others who are engaging in social justice work in different ways, to learn about current social justice efforts happening locally, and more about how you can show up for your community. Happening from 9am-5pm in the Wyoming Union, all sessions are scheduled consecutively so that guests may attend all sessions offered. Admission and lunch are free!
Time: 8am-5pm MST
Location: Wyoming Student Union Ballroom (Union 2nd Floor)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: Click Here for the Full Schedule
Social Justice Literacy begins with learning. Join us on Thursday, October 12th for a day full of presentations and workshops regarding social justice literacy with friends, community members, and professionals from across the country. Each session offers opportunities to connect with others who are engaging in social justice work in different ways, to learn about current social justice efforts happening locally, and more about how you can show up for your community. Happening from 9am-5pm in the Wyoming Union, all sessions are scheduled consecutively so that guests may attend all sessions offered. Admission and lunch are free!
Relative Theatrics Presents: Hurricane Diane by Madeleine George
Time: 6:30pm MST
Location: Biodiversity Center (Lobby Area)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: Join us for refreshments and free reading of HURRICANE DIANE by Madeleine George at the UW Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center on Thursday, October 12th at 6:30p. The reading will be followed by a discussion proctored by Rachel Watson. The reading is directed by Charles Johnson, features Kenny Starling, Gina Sigel-Herdt, Samira Caamano, Eli Palmer, Destiny Gabbidon, and Hava Cundall. It is presented in part with the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice.
About the Play:
Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She’s got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity—the Greek god Dionysus—and she's returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac? In this Obie-winning comedy with a twist, Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards.
“Smart and boisterously funny... On multiple levels, this is the play we need right now.” – The Boston Globe
“Hurricane Diane is fantastic, heartbreaking. Full of keen observation and profound human affection, the play both lifts us up and wrings us out.” – Vulture
Madeleine George’s plays include Hurricane Diane (Obie Award), The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence (Pulitzer Prize finalist; Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award), Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), Precious Little and The Zero Hour (Jane Chambers Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist). Honors include a Whiting Award, the Princess Grace Award, the Hermitage Major Theater Award and a Lilly Award. Madeleine has written on shows for FX and HBO, and she is a writer/producer on the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building.
Read, Rant, Relate is a free play-reading program funded in part by the Wyoming Humanities. Experience a new piece of dramatic literature in a unique setting with Relative Theatrics. Participants will engage directly with modern plays by listening to actor-led readings of the texts, then joining discussions breaking down the thematic elements of the works and their relevance to today's society.
Relative Theatrics strives to present contemporary, thought-provoking theatre that examines the joining qualities of the human race. We believe that theatre is a forum with the power to illuminate the binding qualities of humanity and reinforce the ideals that as a society we have values that pose as common ground and emotions that relate us to one another. Taking artistic risk, we provide a community gathering place where thoughts can be exchanged about society, culture, and the power of creativity.
www.relativetheatrics.com
Location: Biodiversity Center (Lobby Area)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public (General Admission)
About: Join us for refreshments and free reading of HURRICANE DIANE by Madeleine George at the UW Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center on Thursday, October 12th at 6:30p. The reading will be followed by a discussion proctored by Rachel Watson. The reading is directed by Charles Johnson, features Kenny Starling, Gina Sigel-Herdt, Samira Caamano, Eli Palmer, Destiny Gabbidon, and Hava Cundall. It is presented in part with the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice.
About the Play:
Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She’s got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity—the Greek god Dionysus—and she's returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac? In this Obie-winning comedy with a twist, Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards.
“Smart and boisterously funny... On multiple levels, this is the play we need right now.” – The Boston Globe
“Hurricane Diane is fantastic, heartbreaking. Full of keen observation and profound human affection, the play both lifts us up and wrings us out.” – Vulture
Madeleine George’s plays include Hurricane Diane (Obie Award), The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence (Pulitzer Prize finalist; Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award), Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Susan Smith Blackburn finalist), Precious Little and The Zero Hour (Jane Chambers Award, Lambda Literary Award finalist). Honors include a Whiting Award, the Princess Grace Award, the Hermitage Major Theater Award and a Lilly Award. Madeleine has written on shows for FX and HBO, and she is a writer/producer on the Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated mystery-comedy Only Murders in the Building.
Read, Rant, Relate is a free play-reading program funded in part by the Wyoming Humanities. Experience a new piece of dramatic literature in a unique setting with Relative Theatrics. Participants will engage directly with modern plays by listening to actor-led readings of the texts, then joining discussions breaking down the thematic elements of the works and their relevance to today's society.
Relative Theatrics strives to present contemporary, thought-provoking theatre that examines the joining qualities of the human race. We believe that theatre is a forum with the power to illuminate the binding qualities of humanity and reinforce the ideals that as a society we have values that pose as common ground and emotions that relate us to one another. Taking artistic risk, we provide a community gathering place where thoughts can be exchanged about society, culture, and the power of creativity.
www.relativetheatrics.com
Social Justice Literacy: Resource Tabling
Date: Friday, October 13th
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm MST
Location: Wyoming Student Union Breezeway (Main Floor)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm MST
Location: Wyoming Student Union Breezeway (Main Floor)
Admission: Free & Open to the Public
umc drag show - Eclipse
Date: Saturday October 14th
Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Location: Wyoming Union Ballroom (Second Floor)
About: The United Multicultural Council proudly presents the annual UMC Drag Show. Come join us on the night of the eclipse to enjoy an affirming night of drag celebration and performances. Free and open to the public! Individuals needing assistance attending this event should contact ASUW at [email protected] or (307) 766-3762.
Featuring Performances By:
Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Location: Wyoming Union Ballroom (Second Floor)
About: The United Multicultural Council proudly presents the annual UMC Drag Show. Come join us on the night of the eclipse to enjoy an affirming night of drag celebration and performances. Free and open to the public! Individuals needing assistance attending this event should contact ASUW at [email protected] or (307) 766-3762.
Featuring Performances By:
- Dixie Krystals (emcee)
- Muni tox
- Porsha DeMarco Douglas
- Gucci Blaze
- Bootzy edwards Collynz