WAY TO HEAVEN at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

This stunning new play by Spanish playwright Mayorga is inspired by the true story of the elaborate deception that took place at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where the Nazis constructed a fake village to fool international inspectors and quell extermination rumors. The Nazis set up this Czech concentration camp as a “model village” for Jews, to prove to the world how thoughtfully and creatively they were solving the “Jewish problem.” Mayorga's startlingly original play shows the creation and rehearsal of another very unusual play, one in which the Jewish prisoners are assigned roles and given lines to say to the Red Cross inspectors who may be passing by. Perception, the power of images, rhetoric and Theater itself are among Mayorga's themes, and also, perhaps most significantly, the play asks, how much courage is required to take responsibility for what one sees. It is hauntingly gripping and profoundly moving.