AUSTIN, Texas — A local theater company is hoping to make history as the first of its kind to be made up exclusively of LGBTQ+ members. Austin Rainbow Theatre, created by performer Christopher Preslar, is set to debut its inaugural production of "The Laramie Project" on Oct. 21.

For Preslar, the theater was born out of his profound connection to the world of stage plays.

“I started doing theater really young. It was a way to kind of express myself you know growing up as a, as a gay kid in small town East Texas. It's a little difficult to really kind of be yourself and be able to express yourself openly. So theater, in a lot of ways, was my therapy,” he said.

This time, however, his talents will be showcased both on and offstage. Preslar will be performing in the show, and he’ll be taking the helm as director.

"There's eight people, there's eight of us and we're performing over 50 different people on stage,” he said. 

The company's production of "The Laramie Project" leaves behind complicated set pieces, lighting arrangements and other distracting gimmicks in favor of focusing on the disturbing chain of events leading up to the homophobic brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998.

Twenty-three years after his murder, Preslar says attacks against LGBQT+ Americans are rising. In Austin alone, two gay men were beaten and sent to the hospital by a group of men two years ago. Aside from that, trans women of color are disproportionately affected by violent hate crimes and transgendered individuals overall have been targeted in the political arena.

“People say, this kind of stuff doesn't happen here. You know, 'We don't we don't attack LGBT people like that, we don't murder LGBT people.’ But we do, and it starts with government-sanctioned actions against LGBTQ people,” said Preslar. 

Three of the men responsible for the beating of the gay men in Austin have been sentenced, while charges were dropped for the fourth. The attack serves as a reminder for Preslar about his mission and why he wants to make sure the company's debut performance is as perfect as possible, from the acting to the technical side, especially in the play's darkest moments.

“That's very raw, and, yeah, very triggering. So we have kind of like a stark, hard...harsh lines and harsh angles, kind of look,” said lighting technician Lucinda Culver whose role in lighting the performance elevates important points throughout the production.

For members of the company, it's not always easy to engage in the raw material from the script given its graphic and violent nature.

“Listening to that description, every rehearsal, really can take a toll on you, but I think it's important not to shy away from it, you know, to really look into the face of that brutality and understand that that happens,” said Preslar.

It is a tall order to fight for equality and dignity when lawmakers in the state legislate against members of the LGBTQ+ community, but Preslar hopes this small act of resistance will someday play a role in keeping that level of brutality a thing of the past.