“Hate is not a Laramie value,” recalls one of Nicole Fierstein’s “The Laramie Project” characters. Such a message just reinforces the themes in the play and one of the founding beliefs of the United States.

“The Laramie Project” chronicles the 1998 death of gay Laramie college student Matthew Shepard and its effects on his small town. Shepard was robbed, tortured, beaten and left to die, tied to a fence by two men he met in a bar. Shepard’s murder forced Americans to reexamine their beliefs and way of thinking. The citizens of Laramie, in particular, were greatly affected.

In such a small town, a murder such as Shepard’s strikes a nerve, something play writer Moises Kaufman and the members of his Tectonic Theater Project realized when they traveled to the town four weeks after Shepard’s murder. Through interviews with over 200 Laramie residents and a review of the court documents, Kaufman and his group uncovered secrets in Laramie, forcing the community to rethink its values.

Many wondered how the murderers could have come out of their town. Rather than merely tell the story of the murder, Kaufman analyzes American attitudes and their effect on society in his extremely well written play.

The play is fantastic, thanks mostly to the wonderfully subtle direction and acting. The director, CSUS theater professor Robert Smart, has made the production a simple success. The set design by Richard Stockton is a lesson in simplicity, and perfectly fits the silently passionate play with just a few tables and chairs.

The acting is the best part of the production, though. The cast works extremely well together, with no one person overshadowing another. The actors are able to shoulder the stress of playing several characters each, and their marvelous ability to become another person by, for example, tying a scarf around the waist, just makes the play that much better. Their subtle performances truly make the play the masterpiece that it is. Smart obviously worked hard to assemble some of the best actors at Sac State.

“The Laramie Project” continues in the Playwrights Theatre until Oct. 20. Tickets are $13 for the general public and $8 for students, senior citizens and alumni.

This play is one well-rounded production that truly lives up to the hype.