Walking in to see dead animals hanging from a tree and a pile of clothes laying in the center of the makeshift stage, the audience on the Faculty Club balcony Friday afternoon didn't know what to expect from Diomedes Koufteros's (GRAD) short but powerful solo piece, The Forlorn Artichoke, a one-act play he wrote.And that's exactly what he wanted.

Performed in the style of legendary mime Marcel Marceau, the play was entirely silent. Using only facial and body expressions, Koufteros explored the sacrifice of one's beliefs to the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Koufteros emerged as a student, wearing a Brandeis sweatshirt and comfy pants. He then changed into a suit, playing a man forced to work as a butcher to make a living. Slowly, he realizes the moral dilemma facing him: Even as he painfully kills innocent animals, his heart is no longer in his work.

The small audience became part of the work when they were encouraged to step back from the stage, in a move echoing an observer's distance from reality. Koufteros sat and interacted with the audience as he continuously switched from the role of college student to butcher and back again. The audience quickly became part of the balcony's intimate space; it was easy to step back from life and take a moment to appreciate the gorgeous weather and the picturesque hills surrounding the production.

Employing the natural setting as a prop, Koufteros' distraught character attempted to hang himself on the actual tree above the balcony.

Without words to aid him, Koufteros relied solely on movement and expression, and his execution proved surprisingly effective. It was easy to read his emotions and the intensity and relatable quality of his ethical dilemma was startling. The lack of sound, some haunting background music excluded, further conveyed Koufteros' message. The audience looked in and saw a bit of themselves wrestling with the ethical dilemmas of their everyday lives.