Tectonic Theater Project
On 6 October 1998 Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die tied to a fence in the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. He died 6 days later. His torture and murder became a watershed historical moment in America that highlighted many of the fault lines in our culture.
A month after the murder the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie and conducted interviews with the people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play "The Laramie Project". The piece has been seen by more than 30 million people around the country.
Matthew Shepherd (rugby)
After spending the beginning of his rugby career with St Austell from the age of 6 through to U16 he joined Perranporth. After one season at Perranporth playing for their Colts side he returned to St Austell to start his adult career. He came into prominence for St Austell during the 2009–10 season, when playing at scrum-half he showed good try scoring instinct as he helped his team to a third-place finish in Tribute Cornwall/Devon. The next season his team went one better after clinching the second promotion spot by finishing as runners up behind runaway league champions, Bideford. Shepherd played an important part in his club's promotion, taking over kicking duties from Andy Ashwin, and finishing with 228 league points – a figure that also included 10 tries. The form of the young Shepherd saw him come to the attention of fellow Cornish club, Redruth, who had just been relegated from National League 1.