This weekend, Sunsets with Shakespeare will attempt to bring domestic abuse and hate crimes to the forefront of playgoers' minds, at Woldumar Nature Center's RE Olds Anderson Rotary Barn in Lansing.

The company will produce "Redemption: An Evening of One Acts," which consists of two plays: "Five Kinds of Silence" and "Moral Obligations."

Anyone going to see the plays should prepare themselves for "a heavy night of theater," said Lindsay Palinsky.

Palinsky, an interdisciplinary studies in social science junior, is cast as a variety of minor characters in "Five Kinds of Silence," directed by Kerry Waters.

"Five Kinds of Silence" is the story of a murder in northern England in the 1990s. The play written by Shelagh Stephenson, one of Waters' favorite playwrights, delves into a father's abuse against his own family members.

"It shows the perpetuation of how (the abuse) started with him as a child and then (how he) brought it to his children," Waters said.

The play begins with the murder of Billy, the abusive father, by his two daughters. The script follows the consequences his family experiences after his death and is intermingled with flashbacks from Billy's memory.

"It's a very honest written script. It's been tough for the actors," Waters said. "I've directed until the goose bumps roll up my back."

The second play, "Moral Obligations," was written and directed by Todd Heywood. The plot was inspired by the murder of Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, who was attacked, robbed and left to die by two men near Laramie, Wyoming. Investigations into his death concluded that the murder was not because Shepard was homosexual, but many contest it was a hate crime.

Heywood said the play was a way for him to deal with gay hate crimes and his own Christian perspective.

He also said he hopes the play will show people that Shepard was not just a hate-crime poster boy and that the attackers were only human.

"This changes that myth or I hope helps change that myth by letting us see some humanity," Heywood said.

Political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore J.C. Kibbey plays the character modeled after Shepard. To prepare for his role, Kibbey attended a lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender group meeting, but he said taking on the role of a gay man wasn't as difficult as some people might expect.

"We're both guys in college trying to figure out who we are," Kibbey said. "He wasn't some weird guy."

However, Kibbey said playing the role has given him a new perspective - even though he was only acting the part.

"To have those things said to you and having those things done to you, it gives you some tiny understanding of what people go through," he said.

Audiences should be aware that both plays contain explicit language and violence.

Marni Holmes, who plays one of Billy's daughters in the first play, said showing the two plays together will open people's minds to the two forms of abuse and push these issues into their heads.

"It's a good thing for them (to be) together," she said. "Even if you are aware of it, you can't go home and not think about it."