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Show: The Pianist of Willesden Lane
Society: London (professional shows)
Venue: St James Theatre
Credits: Based on the book by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder. Produced by HERSHEY FELDER with Samantha F Voxakis, Karen Racanelli and Tom Wirtshafter
Type: Sardines
Author: Chris Abbott
Performance Date: 22/01/2016
The Pianist of Willesden Lane
Chris Abbott | 23 Jan 2016 09:47am
Photo: Tristram Kenton
Plays or films linked to the Holocaust can be a difficult watch, with genuine sentiment and feeling not always matched by the necessary creative skills, but in The Pianist of Willesden Lane, the St James theatre has a fine example of the genre.
The production is a good fit for the focused (if rather steep) auditorium of the comfortable St James theatre, although many of the audience were of the age where 90 mins without an interval and a steep staircase were significant challenges.
Mona Golabek tells the story of her mother’s escape from 1930s Vienna through a combination of narration and music. Like her mother before her, Mona Golabek is a pianist and in her case of a very high standard. It is a rare treat to hear an extensive range of music played on a grand piano in a small theatre; and indeed, the music is central to this piece.
The Pianist of the title was Mona Golabek’s mother, Lisa Jura, who was learning to play the piano when her parents managed to get her a place on the Kindertransport to London. Using her own book as source material, Mona Golabek tells the story partly through narration but mostly by playing the role of her own mother, although not dressed as her. It is through her playing of the music that she most effectively tells the story however, and the sensitive sound design interweaves with her playing to create soundscapes that greatly enhance the story.
It is a story that deserves to be told and I have already bought the book to learn more about it. Sound and lighting are well used throughout with Hershey Felder as adapter and director of a production that is almost wholly successful, although the glitzy black and gold set may enhance the Steinway Concert Grand but seems out of kilter with the subject matter. The projection design greatly enhances the story and provides the necessary support to the clear and well-written narrative.
Mona Golabek is a great pianist and an engaging actor, communicating well with her audience and probably not needing to talk so directly to the front rows. Sometimes a little awkward in gesture, she is at her best in simple narration rather than when attempting the voices of others. Perhaps, too, for the UK run, terminology like streetcar and bobby could be exchanged for the more British terms, which almost happens at one point when we hear about chores with nappies and then they are diapers again. And terms like “the London Royal Academy of Music” sound wrong; it is just the Royal Academy of Music although it can be understood that some audiences outside the UK may need more information.
The Pianist of Willesden Lane is a story that only Mona Golabek is qualified to tell, with her combination of family background, authorship of her mother’s story and her skills as a concert pianist. This is, as the programme suggests, a story of “family, hope and survival.” It is also shockingly relevant to the present day at points such as the mention of lines of refugees at the Westbahnhof in Vienna, where they are to be seen again today. That theme of hope is portrayed throughout by the music, so sensitively played and interpolated into the story, and the final moments of the evening include a beautifully-timed revelation that is all the more effective by the way in which it comes out of the music as much as the words. Having built up the tension most effectively throughout the evening, those final moments highlight the skill of performer and director to ensure that the tension is then released as the piece comes to its triumphant and heartfelt conclusion.
Highly recommended.
- : admin
- : 22/01/2016