On Friday, April 28, 2018, Centreville High School’s Theatre Department had their opening night for The Laramie Project. The Laramie Project is a play based on a brutal and true story that occurred in 1998 in the town of Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard, a homosexual student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten to near death and then left out in the cold for 18 hours while tied to a fence. He later died in the hospital after being in a coma for six days. After the incident gained national attention, a New York-based theatre company traveled to Laramie to interview people involved – The Laramie Project is the outcome of the interviews. The three hour performance brought many to tears. Listening to comments after the play, one common thing I heard was that “the rain effect was fantastic,” and I could not agree with them more. The falling rain from the auditorium ceiling added to the somber mood of that particular scene effectively. The Laramie Project brought to light how cruel people can be to people who are different from them. This tragic event lead the nation into seeing the truth in homophobia and hate crimes. To say the least, CVHS Theatre and crew did an amazing job on The Laramie Project.