In the aftermath of the recent bias incident, the Guilford community pulled together to show itself what respect meant. On Oct. 12 at 8 p.m., the theatre studies department expressed that unity in the world premiere of “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.” The performance is an epilogue to the 1999 play “The Laramie Project,” about the homophobia-motivated murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard. The Tectonic Theatre project only granted the reading to a select few venues across the globe, and thanks to a lot of hard work from the theatre studies department and the community reaction after the original Bryan incident, Guilford was one of them.

“David Hammond sent in the information about the Bryan incident from 2007 and they were so impressed with how the community responded that they decided to give us the rights,” said Jack Zerbe, chairman of the theatre department and co-director of the performance. “It’s the Tectonic way to help the community deal with the persistent acts of violence.”

When the night of the performance finally arrived, the crowd in Dana was intimidating. Originally meant to take place in Bryan Junior Auditorium, the event was moved to Dana, thanks to an overwhelmingly supportive student body.

“I was surprised to see the number of students there,” said vice president of PRIDE Je’Lissa Fowler. “Seeing so many people there, especially during midterms, reinforced the idea that hate is not Guilford’s core value and that the queer community on campus and beyond is, for the most part, supported by Guilford.”

Shortly after many seats in Dana were filled, Moisés Kaufmen graced the screen in the live video feed from Lincoln Center, quieting audiences around the world. He then introduced award-winning actress Glenn Close, who shared a few touching words, as well as the mother of Matthew Shepard, Judy Shepard, who became a civil right’s activist after Matthew’s murder.

“I’m just doing what a mother does when you hurt her children,” she said as the audience applauded her determination. With a touch of humor and a dash of humility, Kaufmen, Close, and Shepard introduced touchstone performances in theatres worldwide.

Casts from England, Australia, Spain, China, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Venezuela, and all 50 U.S. states, including the town where the hate crime occurred, Laramie, Wyoming, took to the stage and helped a vast amount of theatre-goers review the situation and themselves.

“The audience really understood what the project was about: revealing how people will try to avoid tragedy by shifting the perspective,” said cast member and junior Natalie Streiter. “The play does a great job capturing the reality of the town and the interviews, being that it is real speech from real people.”

“It’s what people need to hear right now,” said Allison Martin, co-director of the performance. “No, this is not what we stand for as a community. This is not what we’re going to allow our community to be known for. We are accepting and we don’t want anyone to be afraid of what’s going to happen to them at Guilford.”

“Really, the play came at such a perfect time and it really touched everyone that participated,” said Streiter. “We’re a small community, much like Laramie, and though what happened here is not nearly as horrible, the fact that a hate crime can happen in such a small community opened people’s eyes. We are not alone in this, but we still need to change.”

“Words cannot express how much the Laramie Project moved me,” said Fowler. “When the production ended, I felt this overwhelming feeling of joy and sadness. I was extremely grateful that Guilford was given the opportunity to perform the Laramie Project, yet I was – and still am – enraged that the LGBTQA community faces such heartless intolerance.”

After the performance and the standing ovation that followed, much of the crowd made a hasty retreat to their cars or homes, bracing the October chill and mulling over the play’s conclusion: that hate is something we still have to deal with. Those who stayed, however, received another treat from the Lincoln Center. The cast answered questions via Twitter on a live video feed.

Many topics were covered, from counter protests by the Westboro Baptist Church (about which Judy Shepard memorably quipped, “We love Fred. Every time he goes on TV, people see him and think, ‘He’s such a kook. Let’s give some money to that nice gay organization down the street.'”) to the National Equality March in D.C. on Oct. 11.

Most importantly, a Tweet informed the cast that the Matthew Shepard Act, a bill that would expand the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability, had passed in Congress only a few days prior to the performance, leaving only the president’s approval needed to make it law. The audience’s applause left Judy Shepard in tears.

No matter where one stands on the performance or the issues that it addressed, the reading had a great effect on not only the Guilford community, but the world over – because neither great tolerance nor great hatred is yet forgotten.