We work with what we have.

Gisella doesn't have much. Specializing in women's medicine, she's forced to treat female prisoners at Auschwitz with only a dirty table, rudimentary instruments, and her faith. It makes the horror of DEAD RINGERS seem civilized.

She also has limited information. What Gisella learns over the course of the play is harrowing even if you know what to expect from Dr. M. Blevins plants us in the middle of hell, then plummets us infinitely downward.

Elegant and harrowing.

This tense and intimate play is compelling from the first moments. The theatricality is sublime and consistently surprising. Genuine humor cuts through the heaviness of the content, showing genuine care for the audience. There isn't a single moment in this script that doesn't burn with urgency. Though the dialogue is gorgeous, this playwright knows when to embrace quiet and let bodies speak. I had to get up and pace a bit because I couldn't believe how smart this play is. Moving, beautiful work.

Holocaust narratives based on real-life survivors' stories can present a number of challenges for playwrights, but Blevins masterfully keeps her eye on the prize here, avoiding all the traps and taking us on a deeply moving, often funny, and thrillingly imaginative theatrical journey through the heart of darkness, asking deep moral questions in a place where morality itself feels like a luxury. Clever magical-realism devices and some thoughtful character doubling help shape Gisella Perl's story into something grippingly watchable, timeless, timely, and relevant. This is how you do it, folks. Brava.