The French Show, ”Jan Karski (My Name is a Fiction)”, in Teatr Polski

KJ, 16 November 2016
The cast of "Jan Karski. (Moje nazwisko jest fikcją)" made a guest appearance of the Teatr Polski (Polish Theatre) in Warsaw. The show is an adaptation of the stories of Jan Karski by Yannick Haenel.  The show received favourable reviews in the French press when it was presented during a festival in Avignon in 2011. It was be presented from 30th November to 1st December 2012.

The author of the stories turned to director Arthur Nauzycielk with the idea of adapting it for the theatre. Yannick Haenel tells the story form Karski’s viewpoint, his opposition and helplessness against the passivity of the Allies in leaving the Jews of Europe to the fate of the Holocaust. The story of Karski is aimed at restoring memory of those whom he could not manage to save. The book was published, in Polish, by Wydawnictwa Literackiego. It was greeted with many critical opinions, despite which it was widely read.

The show, like the book, , is divided into three parts. The first is Claude Lanzmann’s interview with Karski. The second takes the form of a video by Mirosław Bałka. The last part was Haenel’s idea – an internal monologue by Karski after his meeting with President Roosevelt.

Director Nauzyciel brought to the project artists from various countries – France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and the United States.