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Irena’s Vow, Giving Us a Powerful Message from the Past
When was the last time you risked your own life for people that were almost complete strangers? This is not common among regular people like us because our lives are so important to us. However, to some warm-hearted people during the Holocaust, this was the only choice that they had for saving innocent Jews. Irena’s Vow, starring Tovah Feldshuh, is a story about a young woman named Irena Gut Opdyke who made it her own responsibility to save twelve Jews from being captured and sent to death camps. Irena had gone through many troubles trying to save these Jews. She had to face being raped, becoming the Nazi Major’s mistress, and even being humiliated by her own people of Poland just to help these people from being captured. She was basically playing the role of God to them because through her choices, these Jews were either going to live or die. This play is based on true memoirs of Irena and shows how courageous Irena was being in trying to save innocent people that did not deserve to die.
Irena’s Vow is a new play by Dan Gordon, directed by Michael Parva, being shown through November 2nd in the Baruch Performing Arts Center. The playwright Dan Gordon is considered to be a “master storyteller” in which he can create incredible relationships between the characters and the actors. Before writing this play, he contributed to many movies in which he helped the actors get familiar with their characters. Some of his works were Denzel Washington’s character of Rubin Carter in The Hurricane, Kevin Costner’s role in Wyatt Earp, and Kevin Bacon’s character of Henry Young in Murder in the First. The director Michael Parva, has an extraordinary background as well. Being the Artistic/Producing Director of The Directors Company, he developed numerous new plays and musicals. Some of his works are Bad Girls by Joyce Carol Oates, Kilt, featuring Tovah Feldshuh, Good Will, and more. He has worked with some of the most exceptional playwrights, including Dan Gordon’s Murder in the First, before working together for Irena’s Vow.
Irena’s Vow is a thrilling play and Tovah Feldshuh proves why she is the winner of four Tony nominations, four Drama Desk Awards, and more. Through her comedic acting and at times being very serious that her words go straight to your heart. The reality of this play was mostly because of the level of authenticity Tovah was able to express through her acting. She has proven her acting abilities in works such as Golda’s Balcony, which was sold out in San Francisco and Los Angeles in eight straight weeks. Other actors include Thomas Ryan, who played the Nazi Major Rugemer, and Steven Hauck, who played Schultz. These two actors have incredible resumes in their acting careers. All ten of these actors and actresses have great backgrounds with their acting.
I thought that overall Irena’s Vow was very well done. In the beginning, it was a little slow and boring, but as the plot went on, and as scenes were getting more intense, I could not keep my eyes off the stage. I was at the edge of my seat hoping that the Nazis would not capture these Jews. Given that it was a very small stage, it was like watching a movie with the great cast. I think that these actors did a very fine job in bringing their characters to life, especially Tovah’s role as Irena. This production does a good job in sending out the message to people that we should not forget that the Holocaust had occurred. Irena explains to us in the end of the play that if a day comes when people forget about the Holocaust, that the same thing might reoccur. I recommend this powerful play to all readers, in remembrance of the death of millions of innocent Jews in the Holocaust.
The Circus is in Town
If I can just be assertive for a moment, generally speaking, when theatergoers go to see a show, they compulsively research the play in fear of not understanding or heavens forbid, seeing something they do not expect. Sometimes, being an uneducated consumer has its benefits. Why can’t we just buy tickets to and attend a show we know nothing about? Couldn’t we then enjoy the performances for what they are?
In the year 2008, originality is scarce. Everything has been done before. Somewhere deep in Iceland, the Vesturport and Reykjavik City Theatres began a collaboration to take something old and make it new. Throughout their stunning rendition of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck in the Brooklyn Academy of Music theatre, the talent and free-spiritedness of everybody involved truly shines. Even the director, Gisli Orn Gardarsson likens his extraordinarily athletic group to a band. “We love to experiment,” he comments. “There are no rules regarding what kind of music we play or who plays what…It is a question of now.”
The co-founder of Vesturport, Gardarsson made his directorial debut in Iceland with his circus themed rendition of Romeo and Juliet, where he also took up the lead role of Romeo. A revolving theme around his directorial style, he recruited fellow Icelandic actor Johannes Niels Sigurdsson as Vesturport’s circus and gymnastics coach.
Such is the foundation of Woyzeck. Audience members are guaranteed to be dazzled by impressive displays of acrobatics and cat-like nimbleness with the main attractions being a water tank weighing upwards of 10 tons, bungee jumping, and a flying trapeze.
Remarkably, there is even a storyline derived from Buchner’s nineteenth century masterpiece that is backed up with world-class acting. Ingvar E. Sigurdsson is captivating in his emotional portrayal of Woyzeck, an abused man who eventually drowns in his insanity. Sigurdsson is a virtuoso at drawing empathy from the audience as gasps are heard throughout the audience whenever he is tortured, both physically by the Drum Major (beautifully rendered by Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson), and mentally by the betrayal of his love, Marie (Nina Dogg Filippusdottir in a Snow White outfit).
That is not to say that the play is overly serious. Woyzeck also resembles a rock musical and is packed with just the right amount of comic relief to keep the audience from despair. The collaboration between professional composers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis served as the pulse of the production, drawing the audience in at times and purposefully away when necessary.
The major criticism of the production is that it only scarcely resembles the original story. That may be a problem for the compulsive shopper types, but I say that you should enjoy the rendition for what it is. “Rather than finding the perfect melody within the text,” asserts director Gardarsson. It is “our choice.”
Vesturport and Reykjavik City Theatre’s originality and penchant for self-expression came out quite magnificently. Maybe we all should exercise our right of choice. If you could think outside of the box, you will love Woyzeck. One word of advice, bring a dark pair of sunglasses. It can get a little bright in there.
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.
Irena’s Vow was a play of humanity, a play that depicted the true wonders of the human heart. Tovah Feldshuh brought to life Irene, a Polish woman who not only fought against the German regime, but also an instinct of personal survival. Irene’s Vow was a play of tragedy and happiness, a play of despair and hope, but most importantly a continuing tradition of spoken truth, knowledge and heritage.
Tovah Feldshuh depicted a woman in the epicenter of the Holocaust; she was with neither past nor future but with undiscovered principled heroism nonetheless. Through luck and raw goodness Irena was able to save the lives of a dozen Jews. A natural leading lady Tovah Feldshuh enveloped her previous experience as the former Prime Minister, Golda Meir, to complement the rigid internal determination of Irene. Irene went from a worker at a Nazi estate, to a mistress of a celebrated Nazi official, Major Rugemer played by Thomas Ryan. Irena’s Vow was a look into the many different battles of the Holocaust, battles that ranged from birth of children to life beneath porches. These many different hardships intertwined to create the struggle within Irene, a woman plagued with uncurbed kindness and a self-destructive promise – to save a life. Such a promise leads a way to many events that could not only destroy one, but also all those that surround.
Tovah constructed a character that condensed all the virtues of humanity into a gleaming display of courage. It is no easy task to do all aspects of this touchy subject, but because of Dan Gordon’s and Michael Parva’s direction nothing but an objective blunt message was sent. A want for contemporary understanding of the weight of the Holocaust was clearly visible and a political theme was also quite explicit. Through a visibly detailed and dedicated performance the work of Dan Gordon came together to be a serious tribute to a Holocaust heroine along with a true grave comment on current adversaries of the free and humane world.
I was once asked, “What is there really to see in NYC?” A regular New Yorker would have simply brushed this question off, but since I wondered the same thing I was deeply struck by the word “really”. Was the tourist implying that there was nothing of real cultural weight to see? Regardless, I went on for a few weeks after this question pondering a possible answer and I was soon struck with complete helplessness for I saw nothing anymore that enticed me. Every different venue now began to seem as though it was missing key points and a general mood of cynicism overtook me. I was in this such state of mind when I came to see Madame Butterfly.
Historically Madame Butterfly is an opera uniting two arts, the traditional opera form and Broadway. It is an opera displaying colors and designs that are exotic, the music is of Italian sense but also with themes that are French, American and Japanese. The late Anthony Minghella’s production not only created a visual masterpiece but also a transition to a new form of Opera. A braid of so many different nuances knotted together to create a palate of such senses and colors that even the most depressed of us would find a glimmer of enjoyment. The lighting was superb and the props were extraordinary (a puppet for a boy, - genius). Every little trick was brought forth and created a delectable morsel for the ears and the eyes. Opera is not usually so concentrated on an objective of pleasure, it is either you like and understand opera or you’re a novice fake tourist trying to pretend you’re an intellectual.
Although there was a moment of sadness due to the fact of substitute singers; Maria Gavrilova (Cio Cio San) and Marcello Giordani (Gen. Pinkerton) performed at the top level and did not create a single bland moment. Such a situation only serves as comment to the Metropolitan Opera, it shows how deep and strong the company is.
Madame Butterfly is based on a play by David Balscone. It is an opera thought by many as a dedication to western domination of the east. An American general Pinkerton marries a Japanese Geisha Cio Cio San and he soon leaves back to America, only to abandon his young wife and newly born son. Cio Cio San then continues in normal opera manner to struggle with love and despair singing beautiful “a tre voce” arias. Maria Gavrilova enhanced the opera with her ability to span every note with direct attack and sustain each theme (even when humming!).
Each set was like a painting with music simple blocking only served more to accentuate the prowess of the singers and modern stage technology quieted set transitions and they no longer interfered with the more quiet orchestral solos, like those of the oboe in the 2nd act. Charming little ornaments such as purple “snow” and moon lamps enveloped our senses and gave a brilliant display of attention to detail.
One does not have to go to the Guggenheim, a fashion show, Carnegie hall, nor Central Park, for all these different aesthetic values were held close to the Opera’s production. Thus a display of color and sound alleviated my stupor and brightened my belief in the city’s cultural abilities and it will definitely do the same for anyone else!
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