Intelligence-Slave is the story of Curt Herzstark, a concentration camp prisoner who added years to his life by inventing the first four-function calculator. He was kept alive so the Nazis could gift-wrap his Curta calculator for the Führer – a thank-you for a victorious end to the war. But what would happen after the final calculator plans were drawn? Written by Kenneth Lin and making its premiere here, the play juxtaposes the Holocaust’s horrific realities with Herzstark’s technical difficulties. “The most difficult problem in creating the calculator was the problem of performing subtraction,” Lin says in a press release. “I thought that was a profound metaphor to employ in the construction of a play about the Holocaust.” 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. Through June 10. Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For information, call 713-220-5700 or visit www.alleytheatre.org. $40 to $55.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: May 27. Continues through June 10, 2010
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2010.