GORHAM — The University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre will close its 2013-2014 season with the English-language world premiere of Tillion’s operetta, “In the Underworld,” in Russell Hall, 37 College Ave.

While imprisoned in Ravenbrück concentration camp for women in World War II Germany, Germaine Tillion, a French ethnologist and Resistance fighter, secretly wrote an operetta script that turned her own experiences into a powerful testament to the triumph of humanity.

The operetta is a dark comedy and reality-based fiction, focusing on the concentration camp and the prisoners; it is a brutally honest story about a time of genocide and survival.

“Tillion has crafted a sophisticated, meaningful and educational account of life in Ravensbrück,” said Meghan Brodie, director of the production and USM assistant professor of theatre. “Tillion was an intelligent and cultured woman who produced an amazing piece of art under the most horrific circumstances. The play is an artifact of resistance and hope.”

The show is narrated by a character called “the Naturalist,” who has discovered a new species of animals that she calls “the verfügbar,” meaning “the disposable.” The verfügbar (pronounced “fair-foog-bar”) is described as “crazed and perpetually hungry … feeble and hunted, yet alive.”

At Ravensbrück, Tillion intended for her irreverently humorous script to strengthen the morale of her comrades.

“Tillion and her friends used humor as a tool for resistance and survival,” Brodie said. “It is a testament to the prisoners’ will to live — their shared laughter sustained them when little else did.”

The production features an all-female cast of USM students, five of whom will shave their hair for their roles.

The motivation for the students to alter their physical appearances is one of many indications and methods of their dedication to the production and of their respect for the people on whose lives the story is based, according to the operetta’s director.

“I have asked the actors to shave or cut their hair as a way of authentically portraying and paying tribute to the women and the lives they lived in the camps,” Brodie said.

The director noted that the context of the dark comedy could strike areas of sensitivity for audiences.

“It is difficult to imagine a comedic, but moving piece of theatre about the Holocaust,” Brodie said. “Tillion juxtaposes moments of heartache and sadness with scenes of gaiety and there is little transition between the two.

In 1945, the Swedish Red Cross rescued Tillion and some of her fellow prisoners, one of whom smuggled the script out of the camp and later returned it to the French woman. Tillion feared that audiences would not understand the operetta and the purpose of the comedy of the piece.

Consequently, she kept it a drawer in her Paris home for decades. It was not produced until 2007 when it received its premiere at Théatrè du Châtelet in France. Tillion died in 2008, and it was recently announced that her remains will be interred in the Pantheon in Paris next year.

Christophe Maudot arranged and composed the music for the original French production, the same music used for the USM production, and he will travel from France to participate in a post-show discussion on April 19.

Jonathan Marro, a USM alumnus, class of 2012, is the music director of the production and also adapted the English lyrics.

A nine-piece orchestra comprised of USM School of Music students and local musicians, with Marro playing as piano-conductor, will perform the music.

“In the Underworld,” directed by Meghan Brodie; show times vary, April 18-27. Tickets: $15, general public, $11, seniors and USM employees, $8, students; call 207-780-5151 or go to http://usm.maine.edu/theatre.

The cast includes (by name, role, year, major, hometown):

? Callie Cox (Marmotte): sophomore theatre major, Ellsworth;

? Helena Crothers-Villers (Lulu of Belleville): sophomore vocal performance major, Brunswick;

? Mary Kate Ganza (Titine): senior theatre major, Waterville;

? Virginia Hudak (Lulu of Colmar/Annette): senior music education major, Saco;

? Madelyn James (Naturalist/Marie-Anik): senior theatre major, Nashua, N.H.;

? Clare McKelway (Lise/Bebe): sophomore theatre major, Belgrade Lakes;

? Caroline O’Connor (Nenette): senior sociology and women’s studies major, Wells;

? Hannah Perry (Marguerite): senior theatre major, Hartford;

? Elinor Strandskov (Rosine): junior theatre major, Minneapolis, Minn.;

? Sable Strout (Havas): senior vocal performance major, Richmond;

? Rhiannon Vonder Haar (Dede of Paris): sophomore vocal performance major, Bar Harbor.

7:30 p.m., Friday, April 18

7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19

5 p.m., Sunday, April 20

10 a.m., Tuesday, April 22; high school matinee

5 p.m., Wednesday, April 23; all seats $5, ASL-interpreted performance

7: 30 p.m., Thursday, April 24

7:30 p.m., Friday April 25

7:30 p.m., Friday April 26

5 p.m., Sunday April 27

Tickets

$15, general public; $11, seniors, USM employees and alumni; $8 students.

Call the USM Theatre Box Office at 207-780-5151 or go to www.usm.maine.edu/theatre.

Special “$5 at 5” Wednesday matinee on April 23 offers all tickets at just $5.

Post-Show Discussion Schedule

7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19 performance: Post-Show Discussion with Christophe Maudot, composer and arranger; Annie and Karl Bortnick, script translators; Meghan Brodie, director; and the “In the Underworld” cast.