“The Shape of a Girl” is a retrospective account of Braidie, a girl struggling at home and in school who tries to come to terms with bullying and her inability to speak up and take action.

The one-woman play, put on by actress Paige Hernandez, was inspired by the 1997 murder of Canadian high school student Reena Virk. The play, produced by Bert Goldstein, director of MSU Federal Credit Union’s Institute for Arts and Creativity, was one that Hernandez said took a lot of research, studying and mental preparation.

“Reading news articles from the actual event, reading the novel, finding out all of the background,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez takes on several roles throughout the play, which she said was the most difficult part, forcing her to start memorizing her roles in August.

“I do seven or eight characters in this play, but each of them has their own story, their own profile and background,” she said. “I have to be really clear about what each of those are so when I slip in and out of character, the audience isn’t lost.”

MSU football players and anti-bullying advocates sophomore Shilique Calhoun and senior Blake Treadwell got a special advance showing of the play Monday. Both Calhoun and Treadwell said they were moved by the play and were able to emotionally relate to the problems the play presented.

Treadwell, who was unmercifully bullied in middle school, said the play brought back a few painful memories, but successfully stressed the importance of making people aware of bullying.

“It can happen to anybody; it happened to me,” Treadwell said. “This play shows how important it is to not be afraid to step up and help when you see something that’s not right.”

Calhoun, who had a middle school classmate commit suicide because of bullying, said the escalating instances of childhood cruelty displayed in the play were true to life. However, he said it continues after childhood.

“It happens in football — bullying happens in everyday life. It’s not just something that happens from one young girl to the next, it can happen between two grown men,” Calhoun said. “What this play does is help make people aware of how serious bullying really is.”

Hernandez said what makes the play unique is that it is one of the few instances of dramatic expression on bullying that is truly serious.

“It gets compared a lot to ‘Mean Girls,’ but ‘Mean Girls’ was something we were able to swallow because it was funny,” she said. “This actually looks at it from a very real perspective, and even though it’s a deep and heavy topic, it still has light areas.”

Tickets for the play start at $12.