What I liked
.
What I didn't like
.
My overall impression
This play provides an excellent example of using comedy to make a dire and very easily depressing story, fully accessible. Based on actual events, the Night Witches were a unit of female Russian bombers who terrorized the Germans. These women were often ridiculed by their male counterparts, and they were given barely adequate gear and machinery. Despite this, they courageously returned to the air again and again even as they watched their sister’s fall from the skies as the German’s unleashed everything they had in order to stop them.
The production pays appropriate homage to these women. They set the mood with punk/metal music (I think that’s what it would be called?) and their staging of the witches’ flights is highly creative and effective. The men in the cast all play multiple parts, but their Colonel Klink-esque Nazis were certainly my favorite. These comedic scenes provided much needed levity to break the tension of the night missions.
This is a strong cast and they work wonderfully together as an ensemble. The accents are hit or miss, but other than that the performances are solid. Check out episode 9 of the See It or Skip It podcast to hear more about this show.
