Andrey Grebenetsky-Irena’s Vow Review (with Revision)
Irena’s Vows Get Powerfully Renewed
There are many people in this world who believe the Holocaust of World War II didn’t happen. It is expected that a college be a place where ignorance is squashed and this time, the education is delivered in the form of theatre. Enter the new play Irena’s Vow currently being performed in the Baruch Performing Arts Center. Written by master storyteller Dan Gordon and directed by Michael Parva, the Artistic/Producing Director of the Director’s Company, Irena’s Vow sets out to remind us of the horrors of Hitler’s regime.
Four time Tony Award best actress nominee Tovah Feldshuh, who’s resume is the longest I have ever seen in a playbill, confidently takes up the role of Irena Gut Opdyke, the Polish, Catholic heroine who risked her life to preserve the lives of thirteen Jewish people from becoming victims of genocide. A tall task, leading what is for the most part a one woman show, Feldshuh is directly involved in every single scene of the ninety-minute production as she chronicles the early and later life of deeply missed Irena Gut Opdyke, who passed away in 2003.
A veteran of the Holocaust, Gut-Opdyke began telling her story in schools during the early 1980’s with the goal of reminding America’s youth of the evils humans are capable of committing. The production replicates the exhilarating experience of Opdyke’s outstanding storytelling, as Feldshuh begins by addressing the audience as her children in a well-trained Eastern European accent.
This is where the subtlety, creativity, and originality of the play are in full view. Even though the setting may change from a classroom in America, to war stricken Poland, to Jerusalem, the set remains the same. Instead, the settings as well as events are progressed with a projection on the wall behind the set, just like Gut Opdyke did it. The projections and remarkable narration allow the audience’s imaginations to run free, drawing them in to every word Feldshuh utters.
The performance did have a minor noticeable flaw. Feldshuh’s and the supporting actors’ accents were excellent and would have provided a surreal authenticity to the production, but failed to deliver. The presence of the accents seemed to come and go with the scenes. Otherwise, the story is as believable as night and day.
The seriousness of the scene was sometimes interrupted with Opdyke’s sarcastic jokes, reminding the audience that they were students in a classroom. Feldshuh also made use of loud foot stomps throughout the play to replicate the marching of German soldiers, compelling everyone’s attention towards the class, just like a teacher in any class.
Only, this was one of the most captivating classes one could attend. Just like people are forgetting about the tragedy of September 11, 2001, theatergoers will never forget the Holocaust. This reviewer proudly gives Irena’s Vow a four and a half minute standing ovation.
A not-for-profit organization, the award winning Director’s Company is seen as the theatrical equivalent of an independent film company and is known for world-class theatre in the form of The Milliner, Murder in the First, Bad Girls, Kilt, and The Passion of Frida.
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