Tonight the theater department will be performing scenes from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” in the Leo Stuver Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets will be 5 dollars to view the one and only public performance of the competition UIL One Act Play.

With the recent passing of author Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird” still remains as relevant today as it was when it was first published 56 years ago. A true classic of modern American literature, it was published with almost immediate success having won a Pulitzer Prize, being translated into more than forty languages, and selling more than 30 million copies worldwide.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is told through the eyes of children living through an experience that brings a man to his death. When their father Atticus, a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against false rape charges, the trial and ensuing events expose his children to the evils of racism in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama.

“It was one of the most challenging shows I’ve ever done,” director Brad Durio said. “The challenge became how do we fit the real, honest story in about 40 minutes. And we definitely accomplished that.”

Portraying the characters honestly has been equally challenging for the students. Many have been pushed out of their comfort zones in order to capture the true nature of their characters. This creates an entirely new challenge for the students who are making their debut on the stage in “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

“The most challenging part [of playing my character] is putting aside my own biases in order to see things from other people’s perspectives,” junior Daniel Mooney said. “The message is learning to show sympathy for others since we’re all human.”

Alongside Durio, students have spent countless hours rehearsing every day after school for two months, sometimes rehearsing on weekends in order to tell the story as honest as possible. They are all excited to perform the story for the last time.

“We’ve worked on the play so much,” senior Ashlyn Eperjesi said. “We’re going to put our hearts on that stage; this will be our best performance yet.”