The Holocaust has, for good reasons, been remembered as a tragedy of the Jews. But the Nazis had plenty of other lists: homosexuals, communists and the Gypsies among others. Perhaps the least discussed has been the estimated 275,000 disabled people, whether congenitally malformed or simply injured, whether mentally or physically, who were methodically executed.

It was all part of the crazed programme to eliminate imperfections and build a master race of perfect Aryans. Nabil Shaban's challenging new play starts the fightback even before it begins, naming two of the disabled characters after a pair of Germany's greatest mythological heroes, Siegfried and Brunhilde. Shaban himself, probably the most familiar of Britain's disabled actors, plays Siegfried from his wheelchair. He is one of three people who are selected and transported to the place of execution. They are escorted by Brunhilde, a nurse who has lost her arm below the elbow in an explosion.

To comfort her charges, she joins their storytelling circle and tells them about someone who takes on the Bad Man. The story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, disabled in a car bombing, who led an attempt to assassinate Hitler, is played out in parallel by the rest of the cast.

Alongside are questions about how German doctors were sucked into the administration of this grotesque parody of medical treatment and how Joseph Goebbels should have been on his own lists, having a club foot acquired from a childhood bout of polio — and probably being a closet homosexual into the bargain, Shaban tosses in for good measure.

There may be infelicities in the writing from time to time and one or two moments when Shaban's play tips over into a demagoguery of its own. But overall, this is clearly an important and at times potent piece of work, driven, of course, by Shaban's own experience of prejudice and injustice but also shaped by every ounce of his substantial theatrical experience.

Peter Clerke's production for his Benchtours company is about as simple as it could be, half a dozen floor-to-ceiling banners, cunningly lit by Paul Sorley, some moveable screens and a few sticks of furniture.

But it is still full of invention, the dialogue at times giving way to elegantly choreographed but oddly chilling movement sequences, set to chintzy German dance music. Excellent performances from Rod Matthew, Nick Field (who doubles, in a neat irony, as Stauffenberg and Goebbels), and, above all, a luminous Cerrie Burnell as Brunhilde, sustain it throughout.

Apparently the company had trouble selling the show on tour because, it assumes, theatres were frightened by the content. Shame on them; they have missed out doubly on an important piece of history and a fine piece of theatre.

Glasgow June 5-7; Huddersfield June 11-12, www.benchtours.com

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