Describe the Night

An epic fantasy that weaves historical figures into imagined happenings of the past, featuring a Putin-esque KGB officer, the play deftly incorporates the tension and intrigue of a spy thriller with a touching dive into the realm of magical realism. Another featured character, writer Isaac Babel, executed by Stalin after his work was deemed anti-Soviet, was a profound influence on Zizka, who herself defected from her native Czechoslovakia to escape persecution by the Soviet government. She is inspired by the way Describe the Night “touches upon the ambivalent and mysterious nature of art. It is hard to overstate how funny, smart and powerfully engaging it is.”