From the atrocities of war spring works of beauty, which the community can experience at “The Murder of Lidice,” Riverland Community College’s latest theatrical performance.

“It’s different,” said Jerry Girton, Riverland’s Director of Theatre.

What starts out as an innocent look at a small town in Czechoslovakia swiftly turns into one of the darkest forgotten crimes of World War II. The factually based play, adapted from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, centers on the appearance of a Gestapo-uniformed corpse in the middle of Lidice in May of 1942.

Once the Nazi government discovers the corpse is the remains of Reinhard Heydrich, a man known and feared throughout Europe, they decide to punish the peaceful little village. The German government announced on June 10, 1942 that Lidice had been wiped from the face of the earth in total destruction.

“It goes from such a happy tone to such a sad, depressing tone,” said Kaylin Wolf, one of the performers in the play. “It’s a quick change of emotion.”

The ensemble act, which features 12 performers all playing multiple parts, is designed to provoke thought about wartime atrocities.

“That’s why I chose it,” Girton said. “It fulfills that need in theatre to make people think.”

Since the play is based on true events, it gives a glimpse of not just what life was like in 1940s Europe but timeless topics such as how people deal with war.

“You get a pretty good sense of what happened at the time,” said Bill Hoy, another actor in “The Murder of Lidice.”

The play is one hour in length, and is recommended for everyone 14 and older, due to its themes. “The Murder of Lidice” opens Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m., continuing until its final performance on Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Coffee House on Main in Austin and at the Riverland Box Office.

As the classic piece of Riverland’s theatre season, it won’t be the type of play people could miss, according to Girton.

“If you’ve never seen an ensemble, this is the piece to go to,” Girton said.