When Beast On the Moon premiered in 1995, the word “jihad” was not entrenched in the vocabulary of most Americans, “ethnic cleansing” was a likewise unfamiliar concept, and “holocaust” usually referred to the Nazi scourge. But the genocidal atrocity invoked by playwright Richard Kalinoski is the wholesale slaughter of the Armenians by the Turks back in 1915. His play recounts the struggle of two orphaned survivors to find peace, if not happiness, amid the shards of childhoods shattered by violence and the indelible memories of their murdered families. Timothy Gregory directs a cast of actors delivering unhurried, focused performances on John Zuiker’s monastic set, their moments of luminous silence speaking more eloquently than words. –Mary Shen Barnidge a Through 4/29: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox, 773-282-7035, $25.
