Review: THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE, St James Theatre, 13 September 2016

Following a critically acclaimed run earlier this year, Hershey Felder's The Pianist of Willesden Lane is playing again at St James for six weeks. The theatre marked its return with a gala performance in aid of World Jewish Relief.

It's a charity that has close links with the show, as its precursor (the Central British Fund for German Jewry) played a key role in moving Jewish children to Britain during the Second World War, funding and organising 'Kindertransport' to help them escape persecution from the Nazis. Its current focus is the Refugee Crisis Appeal, providing humanitarian aid in Greece and Turkey for people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The show itself, set in Vienna in 1938 and London during the Blitz, tells the story of Lisa Jura, an aspiring concert pianist and mother of its creator and star, Mona Golabek. She hopes to make her debut at the Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, but the Nazi threat removes her from her family to London via the Kindertransport. It's performed live, all on a Steinway grand piano, and features compositions of Chopin, Beethoven, Gershwin and Debussy, amongst others.

Hershey Felder and Trevor Hay's design is beautiful in its simplicity: several empty picture frames hung up on the back wall, with the Steinway as the obvious focal point in the centre. The black and gold colour scheme matches that of the piano itself, keeping it at the forefront of your mind at all times. Projections are used at regular intervals, filling the frames as a backdrop to Lisa's story - be they photographs of her family or video footage of events, they are always complementary to what is being played or described.

Mona Golabek is a natural storyteller. One of the many remarkable things about this show is her ability to keep the audience in the palm of her hand for the duration without respite or any additional performers. Golabek, like her mother, is a supreme pianist - she gives performances of each piece so full of character and virtuosity that wouldn't be out of place in large concert venues across the globe. Her final recital of the third movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A Minor (op. 16) is an obvious highlight and a fitting climax to the show.

The momentous nature of the evening was not lost on Golabek, who gave a short but moving speech following the performance, reliving the moment she was able to see her mother's Kindertransport file for the first time - and thanking the British nation on behalf of every young refugee the organisation saved.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane is a show full of charm and beauty, telling a very human story that remains highly relevant to the world we live in. For the wonderful music and inspirational protagonist, it is simply a must-see production.

Box office: 0844 264 2140, https://www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/

Find out more about World Jewish Relief

Picture credit: Michael Lamont

To post a comment, you must register and login.