The Mayer Lutheran Theater Department presents The Night Witches by Rachel Bublitz as this year’s One Act Play.
Called “the Night Witches” by the Nazis, the women of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew in planes made of canvas and wood, and they dropped bombs on Germans every 15 minutes through the night to keep their enemy from sleeping. They were constantly being shuffled and moved to perform new duties; mechanics became navigators, navigators became pilots, and pilots became commanders.
Nina and Vera have just finished their training as navigators and are moments away from their first combat mission. As they fight their nerves, the women around them use different means of bolstering their spirits, some more successfully than others. But when the time comes, to the sky they must go. Tonight, however, is different than any night they’ve faced before—their enemy has employed a new tactic taking them completely by surprise.
In this historical drama, which is this year’s ML Theater Department entry in the Minnesota State High School League’s One Act Play competition, we follow these brave women through one fateful evening during the war.
There will be a public performance on Wednesday, January 29 at 7 PM in the ML Fine Arts Center Theater. The play will also be performed at ML for the subsection competition on Saturday, January 25 at 12:15 PM. Please note that once a performance has started at subsections on January 25, there is no admittance allowed. Admission for both these performances is free.
The Night Witches is produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. of Woodstock, Illinois.