Rachel, a Jewish woman displaced during the pandemic, immerses herself in her grandparents’
harrowing history surviving World War II— traversing the battlegrounds of the Red Army with
her grandfather and outrunning the Nazis through Polish woods with her grandmother into the
vastness of Soviet Russia. She steps into their story, playing multiple characters from their
lives—following their journey from their separation at the start of the war to their quest to find
one another after the war and their reunion – where what they don’t tell each other is just as
important as what they share. This begins to impact her relationship with Luke, her non-Jewish
partner, bringing to the surface issues they haven’t addressed, including what role religion will
play in how they’ll raise their future children. Variations of Crossing the Alps explores the
hunger to understand one’s family’s history, the challenges of confronting the truth, and the
complexities of survival.