When I saw that Brandeis was hosting Etty, a one-woman play based on the life of a female Holocaust victim from Amsterdam, I was shocked that another diary had been discovered in addition to Anne Frank's. The prospect of sitting through a one-woman Holocaust play made me hesitant for two reasons. First, one-woman plays tend to make me uncomfortable. Will the actress be acting out other characters simultaneously? Will it be painstakingly long without set or costume changes? Will she break down in tears while the audience awkwardly watches from a distance? Secondly, I was reluctant to see another adaptation of the life of a Holocaust victim after years of Holocaust units in elementary school, high school and Hebrew school. However, the one-woman play, Etty, which strings together the diary entries and letters of Etty Hillesum during the German occupation in Amsterdam, appeals to an audience at a deeply complex, reflective and mature level. The show was followed by a post-performance discussion panel moderated by Prof. Andreas Teuber (PHIL). The panel included Prof. Antony Polonsky (NEJS), Prof. Dawn Skorczewski (ENG), Prof. Palle Yourgrau (PHIL) and Susan Stein, who played Etty.

The play, which was staged in the Rappaporte Treasure Hall on Thursday night, was performed by Susan Stein and directed by Austin Pendleton. The stage was plain and black; a black curtain was the only backdrop. There were no costume changes, and a low stool and antique suitcase were the only props. While props and costume changes do add variety to a play, I believe this minimalistic setting was ideal. It allowed me to truly zero in on the emotional intensity that Stein's performance evoked.

Etty is also unique in that it is used to teach non-Jewish audiences about the Holocaust. Stein has performed Etty for churches, Catholic private schools, inner city public schools and more recently, Muslim communities. Etty's life is relevant cross-religiously because in addition to identifying as Jewish, she drew much of her belief system from the New Testament and Buddhist theology. However, I found her spirituality very confusing in this performance. She outwardly curses God for not making her a better poet and for the fate that her Jewish people ultimately face.

Yet soon after this, she quotes the Book of Matthew and later prostrates herself on stage, singing psalms. Stein, herself, admitted that Etty's patchwork of faith was often confusing, relaying a reaction from one of her past audience members. He asked, "I don't get it, is Etty an agnostic, or Tevya? (from Fiddler on the Roof)." Although Etty's religious identity is somewhat ambiguous, Stein told Etty's life story with such confidence and poise that I initially overlooked the question of Etty's religion.

Etty's story begins as a 27-year-old law student in Amsterdam. She becomes a "model" for psychologist Julius Spier (known as just "Spier" in the play), who recommends she keep a diary as part of her therapy. However, Etty's diary becomes more than just a mode of treatment; it is also where she blossoms as a gifted writer. In her journal, Etty documents the passionate affair she had with Spier, her lust for other men and women in her life, her concerns for the future of German-occupied Amsterdam and her troubled relationship with God.

When many Jews in Amsterdam are summoned to report to Camp Westerbork, a Dutch transit camp, Etty applies for a position with the Jewish Council-a group of Jewish social elite who were exempt from deportation-at the recommen-dation of her brother Jaap. Etty refers to Westerbork as "a camp for people washed from the nooks and crannies of the Netherlands, only to meet their demise."

She performed administrative duties for the Jewish Council reluctantly but knows this job helped save her family from earlier deportation. Etty resents her privileged position at the Jewish Council and longs to be treated as a member of the Dutch Jewish community at Westerbork. However, Etty ultimately recognizes her situation "makes me the luckiest person in all of Holland."

Etty's job at the Jewish Council only postpones the inevitable. In her last letter to her close friend, Maria, Etty writes about her final time in Westerbork before her deportation to Auschwitz. She passed her diary along to Maria upon her deportation in case she did not return to Amsterdam after the war. "How I die will show me who I truly am," she writes. Etty perished along with her family in Auschwitz. Several incomplete versions of her diary and letters were published in the late 1950s, but it wasn't until 1981 when the full Dutch version was released along with an English translation.

Etty's painful yet beautiful prose is less of a testament to the Holocaust, but rather to her own struggle to find her place in the world. Yourgrau communicated this sentiment in the panel, explaining that "The play is about Etty as a witness of the Holocaust and also these diaries are an incredible human document of a powerful thinker ... her diaries develop in a powerful way." Yet the question of why Etty's diary is not as widely read as Anne Frank's or other Holocaust diaries remains unanswered. The answer may be that Etty's life was not textbook friendly. "Etty slept with many people. She led a very sexual life," explained actress Susan Stein, "Was the world ready for a woman's highly sexual view on the Holocaust?"

One Brandeis student, Elena Korn '13, saw Etty in its seminal stages and then again at a local synagogue. "Everyone who sees it takes something from it ... Etty speaks to everyone so differently," she said after Thursday's performance. Korn also recognized the play's potential as a cross-departmental program for theater, creative writing, philosophy and Near Eastern and Judaic studies; each can appreciate the play from different angles.

As the 69th anniversary of Etty's death approaches this Nov. 30, we struggle to make present the past. Etty is not a history book, full-length documentary, or museum exhibit-it is not concerned with presenting the facts of the Holocaust. Rather, Etty is a moving journey into the mind of a woman caught in the wake of emotional and historical turmoil. Etty's reflections on her imperfections and human struggles allow us to relate to her story and adopt it as our own.