A Polish Holocaust heroine at Acacia Theatre

In Dan Gordon's "Irena's Vow," a Polish teenage girl risks her life to help Jews escape the Nazis.

By - Nov 11th, 2012 10:47 am
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Left to right: David Sapiro as Major Rugemer, Timothy Gotcher as Schultz, and Mary Ellen Atwood as Irena Gut Opdyke. Acacia Theatre photo.

The lives of Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler and Corrie ten Boom are well-documented for their heroism in the face of the Nazi scourge of the Holocaust. But many more worthy stories from that horrific era are not so familiar. Acacia Theatre Company is telling one them, that of Irena Gut Opdyke, in the compelling and uplifting drama, Irena’s Vow.

Friday’s opening at the Todd Wehr Auditorium of Concordia University coincided with the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of the Broken Glass,” when Jews in Nazi Germany and parts of Austria were killed and their homes, schools and businesses shattered. It is considered the beginning of the Holocaust.

Dan Gordon’s play tells the remarkable story of a Polish Catholic teenage girl. Invading Russian soldiers raped her; the Nazis used her as forced labor. And yet she risked her life to save 12 Jews during World War II.

Acacia co-founder and longtime leading actress Mary Atwood brings Irena to life in a bravura performance. Atwood wears a simple dress and sturdy shoes, and her blonde hair is styled in the fashion of the period. Her appearance suggests Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice. She tells Irena’s story with such shining sincerity as to transport us to that time and place to witness a miracle of faith.

Gordon frames the play in the familiar setting of a schoolroom talk with flashbacks. Designer Dan Hummel effectively conveys scene and setting changes through black-and-white photos projected on the backdrop scrim. Atwood sits alone at the side of the stage under a photograph of Irena as she begins her story. The action takes place in center stage, where a series of staircases and raised platforms become the villa of Major Rugemer, the Nazi leader for whom she was forced to work as a housekeeper.

Atwood energetically recounts Irena’s story through actions, dialogue and direct address to the audience. She is convincing as the young woman of faith who witnessed Nazi atrocities, including the murder of a baby thrown into the air and shot by a soldier, who then killed the infant’s mother. She shows the evolution of Irena’s vow to stand up against hate in all of its forms by risking her own life to save others.

A versatile cast, directed by Elaine Rewolinski, ably supports Atwood. David Sapiro resists the tendency to make a Nazi caricature and conveys some of the vestiges of humanity still left in Major Rugemer. Matt Koester, as Sturmbannfuhrer Rokita, glitters with evil anticipation as he relays the Nazi extermination plans for the Jews.

Irena’s story has its lighter moments, and Atwood conveys them with artful irony. One of them occurs during her interaction with Rokita. Irena tells us that she was able to do what the defending army couldn’t — stop the Nazis, with “schnapps and strudel.”

Irena’s Vow continues through November 18. Tickets are available at 414 744-5995 or at the Acacia Theatre website.

Categories: A/C Feature 3, Theater

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