Theater Review | ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’
Mona Golabek Brings her Mother’s Powerful True Story Movingly to Life
When the Nazis enforce an ordinance that prohibits teachers from working with Jewish students, Lisa Jura’s dream of learning from the musical masters and becoming a concert pianist herself is jeopardized. Jura’s father, outlawed by the regime from working his tailoring business, turns to gambling to support his wife and three daughters. One day Jura’s father returns home after a brutal skirmish with German soldiers with something precious clutched in his hand: a ticket on the Kindertransport. This ticket ensured that one of their children would be given passage out of Austria and into London to stay in foster care for the duration of the war. The Juras chose Lisa, their middle daughter and a piano virtuoso, to escape from the impending war.
The Pianist of Willesden Lane is a moving narrative of Jura’s story from teenage refugee to renowned musician, even in the face of a continental society falling to pieces. Presented by Ensemble Theatre company at the New Vic Theatre through February 18, this presentation stars pianist Mona Golabek as Lisa Jura. Golabek came to this role via family history (Lisa is her mother), and she tells Lisa’s story punctuated with elegant piano music that adds tension and texture to the tale. Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, Pianist utilizes dramatic elements from the realms of musical and theatrical performance to build this evocative story of courage, passion, and determination.
Golabek is a powerful storyteller and an exquisite pianist who casts a spell over the audience. In this production, Europe’s most terrible years come alive through music, personal narrative, and visuals projected on the upstage wall, including portraits of the Jura family that provoke the sorrow of souls lost to war, grainy video clips that remind us of the cost of the conflict, and paintings of the lauded composers who inspired Lisa to fight for her dream.
See etcsb.org for tickets and additional information.
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