Review: THE PIANIST - Park Theatre (22/10/26)
Southerland breathes fresh life into Szpilman's haunting wartime memoir
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Even in the most harrowing, wretched situation one can find glimmers of hope or comfort, and few circumstances in living memory will have been quite as spirit breaking as the Holocaust, especially for European Jews targeted by the Third Reich. And we are fortunate to possess, as a society, written accounts provided by Jewish survivors of the second world war, perhaps none more acclaimed and publicly revered as that of Polish pianist Władysław Szpilman, who published his wartime memoir, entitled "The Pianist", back in 1946, which later became the Oscar-winning motion picture starring Adrien Brody.
Fast forward to today, and Szpilman's story has finally been adapted to the stage, with the man himself, also a prolific composer, having provided much of the music. Immediately this gives the show a distinctly personal and intimate feel, with the book directly quoting from the original memoir, and much more closely echoing his own account than the 2002 film by Roman Polanski. We are taken, in many ways, through his stages of grief surrounding his former pre-war life, from the denial that anything will change in the wake of the Fuhrer's invasion, to the frayed tensions, and sense of injustice and patriotic defiance, ultimately becoming an arduous, immensely frightening battle for survival against the odds.
What truly makes this production stand out, aside from the collective knowledge of this being based on real events, is the fact that director Thom Southerland, who also adapted the story from Szpilman's text, has set aside prior iterations of the story, never feeling like a 'copy+paste' job, and instead focussed solely on getting the most out of the source material. This has been managed with great sensitivity and sincerity, with a simple but massively potent array of visual elements, most notably from Andrzej Goulding's rustic, detail oriented set and video design, and the use of an actor-musician cast performing Szpilman's compositions serving to enhance this profound sense of authenticity. Music itself was very much the life blood of he and his family, and this is reflected in how Southerland has brought their trials and tribulations to new audiences.
Portraying Szpilman we have the dual forces of actor Daniel Krikler as our primary narrator, and the supreme piano talent of musician Malcolm Forbes-Peckham acting almost as his musical alter-ego. This two-handed presentation of our titular figure's internal and musical monologues is delightfully clever, as we gain an all encompassing look at how our central protagonist operates on a strikingly real, human level. And the gorgeous performance of Chopin's C# minor Nocturne given by Forbes-Peckham in the second act elicited drawn breath and pin-drop silence throughout the Park Theatre's modestly sized main auditorium, and with the same having featured briefly early in the story, this acted as a wonderful full-circle moment.
With a superbly gifted array of actor-musicians acting as the supporting cast, the amount of talent on display during this production is immense. The standard of ensemble playing, especially the bowed string performances, is truly world class, but what is especially impressive is their ability to play and act through song simultaneously in ensemble, and still manage to perfectly balance the musical complexity and emotional weight of Szpilman's material. Particular standouts performances included those of cellist/bassist TJ Holmes as Władysław's father, and violinist Elżbieta Kalicka as his sister Regina, but any and all of these performers could have had entire essays dedicated to their mastery of their crafts, such is the quality of actor-musicians currently at the disposal of casting directors.
Though the action in and of itself has something of an epic scale to it, the close proximity with which we experience Szpilman's story makes it feel more about him, his loved ones, and their own hardships, giving us a breathtakingly reflective look at the real human cost of such conflicts, and a perspective that perhaps we too often overlook. Whether it's a musical or a play with music never really makes itself clear, and we do experience the occasional moment of unevenness in how the plot is presented, however there is a warmth and affection with which Krikler holds our attention throughout, in spite of a slight hiccup that required the show to restart several minutes in.
There are no winners in any wars, let alone those of the immense magnitude of WW2, and it always feels like a real gift to hear about examples of the sheer endurance and unbreakability of the human spirit when the circumstances call for it. "The Pianist", now celebrating 8 decades in our collective consciousness, will undoubtedly remain a perpetual beacon of hope in an otherwise seemingly hopeless period of human history, and this retelling is an unequivocal triumph.
★★★★☆ (4*)
"The Pianist" runs at the Park Theatre until the 28th of November (tickets)
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