The question remains — who hated Cartwrong enough to kill him?

That’s the mystery that will be solved on stage at the Webster City Community Theater with the production of “Murder at Dry West Fork Gulch.”

Written and directed by Stanhope’s Sally Evans, the show will have performances today and Sunday.

Evans originally wrote the play for a fundraiser for the South Hamilton Foundation in 2013.

“Some of my friends from the WCCT came to see it and they said ‘You know, you should put this on in Webster City,'” she said.

The production is a classic murder-mystery and a satire of TV westerns, Evans said.

“The play begins with the discovery of the body of Ken Cartwrong,” she said. “Nobody liked him, so nobody’s really upset, but everyone seems to have motive. When the undertaker comes and looks at the body, he says he’s been stabbed and shot and hit over his head, so the sheriff and the deputy have their hands full with the investigation.”

The cast features men and five women.

“In addition to the murder, there’s some romantic sparks flying around,” Evans said.

Evans described the play as a “faux musical” with references to “Oklahoma!” and songs in the public domain that most will recognize like “Home on the Range” and “Red River Valley.”

Evans has written and directed many shows at the WCCT over the years, but she wasn’t always a playwright.

Writing always came easy to her, and Evans reflected on a story she wrote in third grade about Peter Cottontail that a teacher thought she had copied out of a book. She enjoyed theater when she was in high school, and considered becoming an English teacher.

Instead, Evans went to business school and worked as a secretary at Iowa State University for more than 40 years.

Eventually, the stage started to call her back.

“I started writing skits for church functions,” Evans said. “We had these Norwegian ladies who were ghosts from way back when, like 1905 when Stanhope Lutheran Church was first founded. So these Norwegian ladies would come every so often and pay a visit, providing their wisdom.”

After that, she began receiving requests to write for the South Hamilton Foundation fundraisers, and eventually penned several plays that have been produced on stage at the WCCT.

Tickets to “Murder at Dry West Fork Gulch” can be purchased by calling the WCCT box office at 832-4456.

Cast of “Murder at Dry West Fork Gulch”

Trese Arends as Cassie Needlemeyer

Anne Blankenship as Mrs. Holiday

Al Yunglas as Ben Morris

Dean Evans as Jerry Morris

Kerry Kurtz as Priscilla Priss

Sam Ose as Sheriff Will Burp

Sylvia Vust as Sal Uhn

Don Zompa as Ernie Uhn

Dale Arends as Deputy Dan

Ken Theobald as Fred Stead

Loween Getter as Ma Gherkin

Tim Bervan as Ol’ Jess

Mark Dohms as Ken Cartwrong

­–Written and directed by Sally Evans