LETTER FROM WARSAW
ABOUT THE MUSICAL
The story that Gary Guthman and Doman Nowakowski created along with their music and lyrics is a quintessential work of a lifetime - and it couldn’t have been written about something more important than their beautiful Poland and its remarkable 1000-year relationship between Catholic Poles and Jewish Poles, unlike any place else in the world.
A country and its people who are rich in heritage, culture, heart, and courage. A country brave enough to constitutionally and democratically protect Jews, give them autonomy and their own culture to flourish for 500 years. Jews themselves during this time called Poland a "Jewish Paradise,” while the rest of the world denied them this, their right to exist. Poland was indeed the Israel of the world for Jews for centuries.
"Letter from Warsaw” underscores the misunderstanding and division of these two great nations told through the experience of a Jewish family living in Brooklyn, NY, comprised of Holocaust survivor grandma Sarah, her daughter Hannah, and Hannah’s son Abraham, who returns to Poland and discover how history and tradition on both sides have all but been forgotten and replaced with propaganda and hidden truths, perpetuating centuries-long suspicions of hate and distrust.
In the end ...they discover the REAL truth!
CREATORS
![Gary Guthman 033 [internet]_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4fe382_cf3da1109ec745ffb6f7863a3330575b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_221,h_221,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Gary%20Guthman%20033%20%5Binternet%5D_edited.jpg)
Director and Lighting – NATALIA KOZŁOWSKA
Set and Costumes Design – PAULINA CZERNEK
Choreography – BARTOSZ FIGURSKI
Costume Collaboration Designer – ANNA PUCHALSKA
Vocal Coach – AGNIESZKA HEKIERT
Assistent to the Director – MAGADALENA MAŁECKA
Make-up – ANNA SAWICKA
Poster Design – ANDRZEJ PĄGOWSKI
Stage Manager– URSZULA HAJDUKIEWICZ
Project Assistent – MONIKA WINIARSKA
Producer – Fundacja otoKultura.org
SEBASTIAN KAZUBSKI/ ADRIAN NOWAKOWSKI
Lighting - WOJCIECH ŁYSIK
Sound - SZYMON MONTEWKA
Technical Director - WOJCIECH ŁYSIK
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Granny Sara - AGNIESZKA KUROWSKA
(Polish Jewish Holocaust survivor)
Hannah - IZABELLA BUKOWSKA
(Sara’s daughter)
Abey - PIOTR BAJTLIK
(Hannah’s son)
Director - DAREK KORDEK
(Theatre artistic director in Warsaw)
Alice - SASHA STRUNIN
(Theatre director’s daughter)
Misha - PIOTR CYRWUS
(Theatre building owner before the II WW)
Young Sara - MAŁGORZATA KOZŁOWSKA
(Warsaw Ghetto 1943)
Kazik - PRZEMYSŁAW NIEDZIELSKI
(Polish freedom fighter 1943)
Marek - SŁAWOMIR MANDES
(Jewish Ghetto Uprising freedom fighter)
Pedestrians, Uprisers -
ALEKSANDRA JACHYMEK
PATRYK GNAŚ
MIKOŁAJ WNĘT
WOJCIECH WÓJCIK
TESTIMONIALS
"Letter From Warsaw" is an ambitious and provocative artistic venture that underscores the desire and need for communication, understanding, and peace. In my recollection, it is the only musical ever to tackle this very important theme, and the way the creators have composed it, I'm sure, will be meaningful. I do hereby support their efforts and wish this musical "Letter From Warsaw” every success.
- Michael Schudrich (Chief Rabbi of Poland)
I believe that the new artistic production "Letter From Warsaw" - The Musical speaks to one of the most important dialogs concerning Poland and the Jewish community, the ongoing relationship and understanding between two great nations. I highly support "Letter From Warsaw" and the creative efforts of the authors in presenting this musical theatrical production.
- Professor Szewach Weiss
(Past Deputy Speaker, Israeli Knesset and Past Israeli Ambassador to Poland)
"Music soothes manners," one would like to say. But let’s not allow this banal truth to deceive us because the authors' intention was not to calm the turbulent waters of the mutual relations between the Poles and the Jews, but rather try to tap into this non-controversial way, the stereotypes that live in each of us, to cause us to think, and make immune the lies and half-truths that escalate a spiral of hostility. The dramatic action develops surprisingly, teleporting us to the cruel times of war, engaging the characters' emotions, and, as the genre would imply, leading to the triumph of love. Some might call it naïve and sentimental; others say it banalizes evil.
"Love is all-encompassing... And this can be fully understood only in extreme situations when you see that you cannot live without it ..."
"If you can succumb to love, offer yourself to another person, you will remain human in the worst conditions" – were the words of Marek Edelman, who would have invited us to the performance, being a great supporter of staging it in the Warsaw theatre.
- Paula Sawicka (Open Respublica Foundation)