Correction appended: This article stated that the students from the University's Department of Musical Theater staged "The Laramie Project." It should have stated that these students were from the University's Department of Theatre and Drama.

With so much focus on Fred Phelps and his supporters and the tumult on the sidewalks outside the Michigan League's Lydia Mendelssohn Theater, many University students seemed to forget about the cause of it - the actual performance going on inside. "The Laramie Project," based on the murder of Matthew Shepherd, came to Ann Arbor this past weekend.

The production has a unique form; it is a play about the writing of itself. The "Project" is an enormous set of real interviews done by a group of writers in the small town of Laramie, Wyo., where the tragedy took place. Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, had been brutally beaten and left for dead on the outskirts of town.

The play was written directly from these genuine interviews, and in keeping with reality, simply reproduces them for the audience in a form closely resembling documentary. Reproduction of the actual events is kept to a minimum, reserving flashback dramatizations for only the most powerful scenes. Most of the play explores individual memories of the citizens and students in Laramie, their reactions to the murder and reflections on how it has changed their small town and its reputation.

So solidly founded in the real world, the show possesses an ineluctable force. One cannot dismiss it, cannot brush it away with "that would never happen" or "people don't behave like that." Engineering senior Harpreet Rai, who attended Thursday's performance said that he could "easily hear other students around (him) crying," especially during the scene where Shepard's father was speaking. The script is also occasionally infused with some humorous lines, especially in local bumpkin/wiseman Doc O'Connor's running commentary.

That said, the play, running nearly two-and-a-half hours, is about 30 minutes too long for many sleep-deprived college students accustomed to the flashbulb editing of "MTV Cribs." A few students grew weary and began to fidget after the second act.

Still, students from the University's Department of Theatre and Drama gave stellar performances this weekend, many of them playing several different parts. James Wolk played everything from simple sage to orange-clad convict, while Sari Goldberg was everything from a dogmatic, bespectacled old lady to a fiery young lesbian leader protesting against Fred Phelps (whose character was also in the play). Edmund Jones, last year's raucous Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet," played some of the most somber and emotional parts. All performances were very strong, and the actors' versatility was impressive.

Staging was also well done, with the lighting greatly effective. The props were minimal, and the actors were spread out and used the entire stage, allowing for a very modern feel to everything, especially with the eight narrators sleekly clad in black.

Despite the brouhaha surrounding it, the play accomplished its goal of enlightenment, and told a true story, not just about Matthew Shepard, but the wake his death left to rush over Laramie's heart.