←Recommendations of Mere Waters

I read Doctor Gisella Perl's I WAS A DOCTOR IN AUSCHWITZ and was craving more of her story. I stumbled upon MERE WATERS by Jillian Blevins, and I am far from disappointed. Radical, resilient, and masterful, this play paints an unflinching tale of the darkest corners of human history. HIGHLY RELEVANT in these times of overwhelmingly polluted waters of the United States government.

Blevins tackles the huge questions: birth, rebirth, salvation, faith, and redemption in this deeply moving and often harrowing play. It's done with unflinching honesty and she does not shy away from the darkness. She still finds moments of light which are poignant and richly layered. The ritual of the purification bath left me in tears. Mere Waters is set in the past but its themes resonate all too loudly today. I'd love to see a theatre stand up and be counted by producting this play.

I was able to see the Portland Stage workshop reading of this brilliant play. At the same time it's a dynamic and harrowing portrait of Gisella Perl, the play is also a clear-eyed presentation of the need to do what is right regardless of the risk or the cost to ourselves. The play's dark themes are beautifully balanced with brighter tones that deepen the play's connection to heritage, faith, and history even as they give us momentary relief from the darkness. Compelling and important work.

A thematically expansive but emotionally laser-focused account of courage, resilience, and faith. A beautiful, succinct demonstration of masterful storytelling that honors the lives it focuses on.

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.

"The moral universe had not so much decayed here. It had been inverted, like some black hole, under the pressure of all the Earth’s malice..." -Thomas Kennally, Schindler's [List]

Mere Waters deftly weaves the story of a gynecologist at Auschwitz with magical realism and matters of faith. It is an energetic testament to what people do in impossible situations.

What will we do to survive; what will we do to help others survive; can we remain moral in a moral-less time, and can we ever be clean? Mere Waters challenges us to ask these questions.

A woman put in an impossible situation is able to save the lives of so many. A historical work of fiction that speaks so much to our current times. I hope this play gets produced fully very soon.

What strikes me the most about "Mere Waters" is that it is both intimate and grand. Jillian Blevins masterfully tells the personal story of a doctor in Auschwitz; in the telling she gives us a broader picture of the horrors of the Holocaust. What sets this play apart is not only the subject matter — the story of a gynecologist in the camp — but the way Blevins tells it, with equal parts heart and horror. And some hope, in the form of Abigail and Hannah.
This powerful play should be seen by audiences everywhere.