In 1998, a young gay college student named Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten in Laramie, Wyoming, and tied to a fence in the distant prairie where he was left to die.

That infamous hate crime and its effect on the residents of the town are explored in The Laramie Project, a play culled from some 200 on-site interviews conducted by a New York theater company, plus police records and trial transcripts. The result is a portrait of prejudice and eventual understanding, to be performed with particular poignancy by local high school students — one night only, this Saturday at 8 p.m. — at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre under its Youth Artists’ Chair Program.

Corrine Thomas, a senior at Suncoast High, directs a cast of eight that collectively plays 68 characters. As she puts it, “I always tell my actors, ‘Work to differentiate one character from another. And it can’t just be vocal, it has to be posture, it has to be gait, it has to be everything.’ ”

Matthew Paszkiet, a freshman at Dreyfoos School of the Arts who plays twelve roles in The Laramie Project, says the script’s message is “To stop hate. Everyone is the same, everyone deserves to be treated equally. We’re saying we need to prevent what happened to Matthew Shepard from ever happening again.”

Since Shepard’s murder occurred 14 years ago, it is understandable that the teenage cast was unaware of the case before becoming involved with the play.

“I think not knowing about this was really a shock to me,” says Caiti Marlowe, a G-Star School of the Arts sophomore who handles ten roles. “I think it really opens people’s eyes. I know it opened mine.”

Like her circle of friends, Marlowe has a supportive attitude towards gays. “I was taught from a young age that that’s OK, they can love who they want to love, they can be who they want to be,” she says. She sees parallels in the play, however, to the epidemic of bullying in schools today. “I think bullying is very prevalent these days. Having the community be very aware, and telling them or reminding them that this happened is very helpful towards preventing bullying.”

Thomas sees her peers as less judgmental about students who are different. “I think there’s a lot less prejudice, a lot more acceptance, in terms of sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, all things like that, among my generation.”

Even with young people less biased against gays than their elders, Paszkiet feels there will always be a need for plays like The Laramie Project. “I think it should always be there,” he says. “Because even if it gets to the point where there is no more hate, we will always have to tell this story to make sure it doesn’t occur again.”

Free Broadway concert … You like musical theater songs, but balk at paying Broadway prices? Then Unity of Delray, a non-denominational church in Delray Beach, has got a concert for you. Baritone/pianist Zack Coblens, who happens to be Unity’s music director, and tenor Daniel Cochran will be the featured performers in Music of the Night: Songs of Broadway, a concert of numbers from such shows as Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Jekyll and Hyde, The Secret Garden and Les Miserables, on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 4 p.m.

There is no admission charge, but a “free will love offering” is appreciated. Unity of Delray is at 101 N.W. 22nd St., at Swinton Ave., in Delray Beach. For more information call the church office at (561) 276-5796.