Theater Review: ‘The Pianist of Willesden Lane’

“The Pianist Of Willesden Lane”

Directed by Hershey Felder
Geffen Playhouse
4.5/5 paws

Three vacant antique gilt frames, outlined by elaborate carvings on a gold surface hang above a Steinway and Sons piano. A dimly lit stage, outlined by delicately placed floral ornaments, suddenly goes pitch black.

The audience, awaiting patiently in the stillness of the theater, anticipates what will happen next. From the darkness emerges a woman with red hair and an eminent presence. Taking center stage is Golabek as she prepares the audience for the journey they are about to endure.

Adapted and directed by Hershey Felder, “The Pianist Of Willesden Lane” tells the true story of Lisa Jura, played by Mona Golabek – the show’s only performer and Lisa Jura’s real-life daughter. “The Pianist Of Willesden Lane,” currently playing at the Geffen Playhouse through March 19, follows Jura’s journey as a young Jewish pianist living in Vienna in 1938 attempting to fulfill her dreams under a Nazi regime.

For the next hour and a half, Golabek essentially transforms into her mother as she retells the stories she heard as a child as Jura – which Golabek first told in her book “The Children of Willesden Lane,” written in collaboration with Lee Cohen. While Golabek primarily tells the story as her mother, she also assumes the voices and becomes the men, women and other refugee children she lived and worked with throughout her life.

Only a few moments have passed and Golabek quickly reverts to the Steinway and Sons piano that sits at the center of the stage – a prominent instrument that is essentially a character in itself as it is the driving force behind what keeps Jura alive. Golabek makes this tone apparent to the audience as she fiercely begins to play and the notes of Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto begin to flutter off the keys.

The piece by Grieg is a substantial recurring motif that runs throughout the play, as it is strategically played by Golabek at pivotal moments in Jura’s story – an effective tactic in terms of production that serves as a framework for the play.

Upon the first performance of the piece, Griegs’s piano concerto is used to set up the unfortunate conditions in 1938 Vienna. As the story progresses, it is again played as Jura endures the dangers of the Blitz in England. Alas, it is played once more to conclude the night’s show.

The passion that Golabek emits through her storytelling – stories about her mother going from hostel to hostel in England to the romances she develops and the upscale hotel she plays at in London’s West End – makes it difficult not to connect with her and feel as if you are a part of her story.

Felder is careful in his use of pacing throughout the play in order to avoid disruption in the audience’s emotional involvement. While he is quick to engage the audience from the start, he is careful not to move too quickly and lets the story steadily build momentum. Given the time span that is covered in “The Pianist Of Willesden Lane,” the pacing is what alleviates the transition from scene to scene.

While Golabek is the sole performer in the play, Felder’s use of archival photos and newsreel footage to occupy the antique gilt picture frames that hang above stage, intensify the impact and significance of Jura’s story while also engaging the audience.

Despite her simplistic acting, Golabek becomes more assured and captivating as the play progresses, allowing her primary talent as a musician to emit the complexities of her mother’s life.

Every piece of Jura’s story is delicately fused with Golabek’s beautifully rendered pieces by Beethoven, Debussy and Chopin. Each performance tells a story within itself and it is the music that truly brings the story to life.

The story becomes identifiable to the audience by virtue of the themes it conveys: The struggle to maintain human spirit in the wake of adversity and drive to pursue one’s passions despite the odds that are presented to us. This, combined with elements of romance and gentle humor, is what connect the audience to Jura’s story.

Golabek’s fingers continue to flutter over the keys of the piano. In the end, Golabek allows the elegant Steinway and Sons piano to be the main vessel in maintaining the memory of her mother.

–Shelly Maldonado