Emily Mann’s expertise in adapting memoirs and biographies into major dramatic works is far reaching. Her latest adaptation, The Pianist, has just made its world premiere opening the 2023-2024 season at George Street Playhouse. A pioneer of new works, GSP and Ms. Mann have truly struck a nerve with this vividly realized play featuring Daniel Donskoy in the title role of Wladek Szpilman. You’d think that a name like Szpilman is onomatopoetic – he’s a pianist after all. This survivor is a historic figure whose memoir was originally suppressed when it was first published a mere 7 years after the war for some of its content. Szpilman and his son later released a version that included further recollection of the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto from 1939 through 1945.
Supported by a brilliant cast including Austin Pendleton (Father), Claire Beckman (Mother), Paul Spera (Henryk), Arielle Goldman (Regina), Georgia Warner (Halina) and a talented cast of versatile chameleons playing other roles including Charlotte Ewing (Magda/Boy), Jordan Lage (Jaworski and others), Robert David Grant (Majorek and others) and Tina Benko (Janina and others). This ensemble is a 90 minute master class in acting with the drama of true life that adds depth, pathos and a story that remains long after you leave the theater.
The brilliance of the spare set, and few props, is literally in the hands of the actors. Donskoy expertly “plays” a silent piano, invisible save where his hands land. Ewing, Beckman and Warner have that same talent - they make the piano so very real, you can nearly see it. That’s just one example. While many may consider speaking to one’s departed loved ones as a Latin device, Szpilman is visited by his family during his ordeal and they impart love, strength and the will he needs to survive. Love surrounds us, all ways.
Ms. Mann has written and directed this story, and she has a dream team in production – set design by Beowulf Boritt, costumes by Linda Cho, Charles LaPointe on hair design, S. Katy Tucker’s projections, Japhy Weideman’s lighting, Rick Sordelet as fight coordinator, Mark Bennett and Charles Coes on sound design with an original score by Iris Hond. This is atmospheric, as real as a vision and ephemeral as a nightmare whose tendrils remain with you in your awakened cold sweat. The show, as does the book, has an ending. Szpilman’s happy ending did not come immediately after the liberation of Warsaw. That art could be made that touches the heart, squeezes it, more than 80 years after the events documented first hand says much about how times change but people do not.
While watching, rapt, my brain had meta experiences seeing reflections of that totalitarianism in today’s politics – January 6, the current politics right here at home and who will save us? You may not find answers in The Pianist, though you may find the will to resist.
Get your tickets now for The Pianist – it closes October 22. Take anyone who wants history to move forward rather than repeat itself - everyone needs to see it. Visit https://georgestreetplayhouse.org/shows/show/pianist/ for best selection.