Crowded- together. . .like cigarettes in a pack

Nathan Englander  who  has  emerged as one  of  our  short story writers  has made an auspicious debut as a playwright with an  adaptation of  his first story  "TheTwenty-Seenth Man,"  based on  a  real  event:     One of  Stalin's  last  horrendous purges  of  people  he perceived as a threat  -- in this case the country's top Yiddish poets. 



The play premiering at the Public Theater  focuses on four  of these poets  thrown into a  cell  and facing execution and the  cruelty  of  anti-Semitic Guards who  find themselves   irrit
Nathan Englander  who  has  emerged as one  of  our  short story writers  has made an auspicious debut as a playwright with an  adaptation of  his first story  "TheTwenty-Seenth Man,"  based on  one of  Stalin's  last  horrendous purges  of  people  he perceied as a threat --  in this case the country's top Yiddish poets.

The play premiering at the Public Theater  focuses on four  of these poets   tossed into one   cell  and facing execution and the  cruelty  of  anti-Semitic guards who    are  annoyed  and  confused  at
ated by having to  deal with-- and here comes the simile--   "a mess of nattering Jews  crammed together like  cigarettes in a pack."

 Here, in case you want to read my review,  is a link: www.curtainup.com/27thman.html