LOLEK Comes to Open Window Theatre in April

Season 11 at Open Window Theatre will conclude this spring with the return of Artistic Director Jeremy Stanbary's landmark 3-person play, LOLEK, replacing the originally scheduled world premiere of his newest play, Joan of Arc, which has been postponed to next season for further development.

 

LOLEK brings to life the captivating true story of Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) and his heroic resistance to the Nazi Occupation of Poland as a young man during the Second World War. Risking his life to engage in cultural, intellectual, and spiritual resistance, Karol Wojtyla would emerge as a Witness to Hope for millions, playing a pivotal role in the downfall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War.

 

Featuring husband & wife duo Jeremy and Sarah Stanbary, along with longtime friend and fellow actor Jeromy Darling, LOLEK first premiered during the Covid season to great acclaim. The small cast play ran on and off from October 2020 - May 2021 with audience restrictions and Covid protocols in place. In addition to the restricted live performances, an innovative and immersive 4k virtual performance was produced and streamed online in real time alongside each live performance, with the actors participating in live Q&A discussions with streaming audiences following each performance.

 

This unique hybrid model of limited live performances with a high quality virtual performance was instrumental in keeping Open Window Theatre afloat during Covid, having just opened its doors in a new location at the start of the pandemic. Open Window founder Jeremy Stanbary is convinced that LOLEK was key to the theatre's survival that season, after cancelling all programming in the spring of 2020 and remaining dark through the summer. LOLEK helped get Open Window Theatre back on the map with patrons locally, providing hope and inspiration during a dark and difficult time, while also garnering some national attention for Open Window, including a co-hosted virtual performance event with the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in New York City.

 

Now, almost five years later, LOLEK returns for a standard production run as the current conflict in eastern Europe comes to a head. In the midst of ongoing global strife with authoritarian regimes, belligerent world leaders, and unjust military aggression threatening another world war, LOLEK and its themes remain as relevant and important as ever.

Directed by Jeremy Stanbary and Stephen O'Toole. Stage managed by Kendra Kispert. Design work by Nate Farley (props & scenery), MaryBeth Schmid (costumes), Sue Berger (lighting) and Jeremy Stanbary (sound).

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