James Tolin Memorial Fund to Present Staged Reading of “The Laramie Project” at MCCC’s Kelsey Theatre Oct. 6

Actors from the James Tolin Memorial Fund (JTMF) will present a riveting staged reading of “The Laramie Project” at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.  Presented as part of JTMF’s continuing Anti-Bullying/Anti-Suicide Campaign, this special event will benefit the Tyler Clementi Foundation.  Kelsey Theatre is located on the college’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.

Directed and narrated by Judi Parrish of West Trenton, the cast includes Melissa Abrahams of Chesterfield; Brian Bara of Levittown, Pa.; Christian DiTullio of Lawrenceville; Damian Gaeta of Hamilton; Kathy Garofano of Morrisville, Pa.; Laurie Hardy of Hamilton; Jennifer Nasta Zefutie of Cranbury, and Jeremy Robinson of Chesterfield. 

Following the performance, there will be a Q&A/talk back that includes Cathy Renna.  A member of the Tectonic Playhouse Board, Renna is a nationally recognized LGBT activist who worked with GLAAD for many years and also worked with Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard, in Laramie.

This performance marks the 15th anniversary of the attack on Matthew Shepard, an openly gay 21-year-old student who was kidnapped, severely beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming.  Matthew died 6 days later on October 12, 1998.  Soon after his death, Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project began year-long interviews with 200 town residents.  Born from those interviews, the play reflects on hate crimes and the bullying that continues to this day.