Theatre West is filled to the brim with eager audience members, playbills in everyone’s hands as the lights dim. No one has been preparing for these performances more than the dedicated students from Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s Creative and Performing Arts department, and their commitment and love for the stage really shone through during the second main stage performance of this semester.

“In Memoriam of Lena,” written and directed by Del Shore, a former instructor of Playwriting and Acting for the Camera at Northwestern State University, had its worldwide premiere in Theatre West.

Shores said he hoped to write a play that allowed the student actors to play roles that they would actually be cast for in the professional world.

After choosing a select dozen students from the theater department, he finished the script for “In Memoriam of Lena.”

While this process is unusual for both Del Shores and the overarching community of live theater performances, the product that the Theatre and Dance department wrought was well worth their commitment and patience.

“In Memoriam of Lena” is a striking gaze into the self, and poses questions that reckon with queerness, grief and what really makes a person “bad.” The play, ultimately, blurs the lines between good and bad, revealing that actions and reactions are hardly ever controlled.

Lena herself is taken down “memory lane,” a path full of regret and indecisiveness, and her recollection of what it felt like to truly meet yourself for the first time.

11 NSU faces were the first to breathe this real, human cast of characters to life. Each character, honed to their actor, felt like they were truly being represented on stage.

While I was hesitant to watch a play advertised as having strong language and a mature audience without being paired with a concise list of warnings, I’m glad that I attended NSU’s production of “In Memoriam of Lena.”

Each member of the cast, crew, design team and faculty who made this stunning play possible deserves more than thanks. Every member of this production has a bright future ahead of them, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what comes next.