Mortimer Jordan High School will soon present a play unlike any that it has put on before.

“The Muselmann” is a drama about three Jewish prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp late in World War II. The play is directed by Shari Gray and will star Mortimer Jordan students Hunter Wesson, William Gillian and Alex Burkett.

“Muselmann” means “living death,” and refers to the character Zigney, played by Gillian. The story involves the other two characters, Eli and  Yaduik, who are in conflict over what to do with Zigney as he lays dying in a bunk.

“It’s a new experience for me,” said Wesson, a senior at Mortimer Jordan who plays the role of Eli. “It’s very interesting trying to fit into the role of a character, especially of someone under such intense circumstances.”

“The Muselmann” was written by Gray’s son, Jeffery Dingler, while he was a student at Mortimer Jordan. Since then it has won several competitions, including an award in 2005 at the Southeastern Theater Conference. Dingler edited and rewrote his original play for the current production.

Lisa Byrd, who is a teacher of Holocaust studies at the school and a theater co-sponsor, said the school is presenting the play close to the annual date of Yom Ha’Shoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is April 19.

“This is part of our remembrance,” she said of the play. “There have been two dates when the commemoration took place: the first on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which was changed because it conflicted with Passover. The current date was chosen because it occurs eight days before Israeli Independence Day.”

Joe Turner, an English teacher at MJHS, is the technical director for the play. He worked on building the set and providing the lighting.

“This is the first, in at least a long time, that an actual set has been built at Mortimer Jordan,” he said. “The whole set is challenging but not in a bad way. We’re still learning everything.”

The production has come a long way. Bunks were constructed to imitate the sleeping quarters of Holocaust victims, as well as a silhouette of the Auschwitz building in the background.  

“The idea is that it’s the end of the world,” said Gray on the set that is intended to present an authentic, gloomy atmosphere.

Gray is a guest director at MJHS. She said that working on the play has been a personal challenge, though rewarding as well.

“It’s rewarding that we’re doing an original piece of work,” said Gray. “It’s rewarding that we’re putting it on in this beautiful facility and you can bring people in and they can see the possibilities.”

“The Muselmann” is scheduled to premiere for the public at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 20. Other shows will be presented on Saturday, April 21 at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, April 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the door. The first showing will be held Friday morning for Byrd’s Holocaust classes.

Tickets are $5 each. For information on how to get tickets, call the school at 205-379-4895.xx