The Dragon Spooky Action Theater 1810 16th St., NW $23-$43 Spookyaction.org

Weird and abusive, yet still inexplicably tolerated by the populace. That describes the titular ruler in “The Dragon,” the story of how a 400-year-old authoritarian regime endures, now running at Spooky Action Theater.

Originally written by Evgeny Shvarts in the 1940s, “The Dragon” has the feel of a fairytale yet it’s a powerfully subversive play written (and banned) in Stalinist Russia.

And now adapted by Jesse Rasmussen and Yura Kordonsky for Spooky’s new production, the reworked play is relevantly and disturbingly set in an immigrant detention center with the tale acted out by the detainees. Their reality mixes with the story.

The new work is staged by the company’s artistic director Elizabeth Dinkova and pe

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