MERE WATERS

FULL LENGTH HISTORICAL DRAMA (5W)
Gynecologist Gisella Perl arrives at a concentration camp and is assigned to work as the camp doctor. She has no tools, no antiseptic, no water. She is promised by a young female guard that if she behaves, sending all “interesting cases” (particularly pregnant women) to Dr. M, she will be reunited with her daughter Gabby, from whom she was separated when they left the Sighet ghetto. Guided by two bickering biblical prophetesses, Gisella treats prisoners who have fallen pregnant. Some have been assaulted, some have traded sex for life-saving goods, others just wanted to feel something aside from pain. When she realizes the scope of evil being perpetrated in the hospital, she undertakes a spiritual mission to ensure the safety and survival of the women in her care by performing secret, life-saving abortions.
MERE WATERS is a Jewish play. It's an abortion play. It's a play about mothers, daughters, faith, and survival.
Inspired by the life of Gisella Perl and her memoir "I Was A Doctor In Auschwitz".
TW: Holocaust trauma, infant death, abortion, sexual violence

Mere Waters
Connelly Theatre, SheNYC Festival 2024
Dir. Rosie Corr
Photos by Danielle DeMatteo