Genre: Drama
Adapted by: Lanna Joffrey; Edited and interviewed by Sally Hayton-Keeva
Directed by: Tamilla Woodard
Performed by: Heather Lea Anderson, Tami Dixon, Lanna Joffrey, Sharahn LaRue, Anais Tekerian
Running time: One hour, 40 minutes
Web site: valiant.tamilla.com

In 1987, after five years of interviewing 60 women, Sally Hayton-Keeva published Valiant Women in War and Exile. "War seen through women's eyes makes a different kind of war story," she aptly wrote. In Lanna Joffrey's stark and quietly riveting adaptation of Hayton-Keeva's book, four actresses take turns telling the stories of 13 women who survived the greatest wars of the 20th century including two Auschwitz prisoners, a Hiroshima victim, a Russian sniper during World War II, and a guerilla in El Salvador. The monologues derive much of their power from the naturalistic way the actresses recount these horrific, otherwordly experiences. They begin in a normal conversational tone only to be overcome by outbursts of harrowing emotion. "If you have hope," says one character, articulating the theme that ties all of these stories together, "you have a better chance to survive." The proof of that statement is in these women's tales.—Ellen Carpenter

• Where: Greenwich Street Theatre
• When: Fri, Aug 20 at 3 p.m.; Sat, Aug 21 at 4:45 p.m.; Tue, Aug 24 at 9:45 p.m.; Wed, Aug 25 at 5:15 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 8:45 p.m.