The theme of this short play is the incalculable loss to society when artists or inventors die before their prime, whether because of illnesses or other tragedies -- man-made or not, rooted in Jewish history.

The drama takes place in the imagination of a former Nazi, Heinz in 1995, in a hospital room. While facing the imminent death of his son from AIDS, at a time when treatments were limited, he sees a news story about the death of the Jewish inventor of the polio vaccine, Jonas Salk. Realizing the profound impact of his crimes, he then imagines a present-day confrontation with a Jewish boyhood friend, Abraham, an aspiring inventor and doctor, whom he had killed in a concentration camp during WWII.

Like other works of the playwright, even while contemplating dark subjects, the play dares to use humor, such as in a meditation on Holocaust survivor Anne Frank’s sales of her twentieth novel and ego problems.

AWARDS and PRODUCTIONS:

Finalist in Chicago Dramatists’ “Ten-Minute Play” Competition, receiving staged reading with Steppenwolf actors. Judged by David Zak of the Bailiwick Theater, Spring 1999.

First-place winner of play competition of the Unfinished Works program of AIDS Services Foundation Orange County, Irvine, California, December 2005.

Winner of Diversity Festival, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico, March 2001.