Pawel Pawlikowski's 2018 award winning film, loosely based on his parents’ lives, has now been made into a stunning play by Conor McPherson with music (and dancing) at the Almeida Theatre in London's glitzy Islington.
Rupert Goold’s production sees sensational performances by Luke Thallon (composer-conductor Wiktor) and Anya Chalotra (aspiring singer Zula) as they play doomed lovers episodically meeting across the years from post-war rural Poland to Paris and back.
The chemistry between the leads is simply electric. Stuart and I couldn't take our eyes off them.
Indeed, the acting throughout is top notch - as we have come to expect from the Almeida - as is the singing and dancing too. The Polish folk music of the original film is augmented here with new and existing songs by Elvis Costello. These new songs are hauntingly beautiful - up there with Costello's best in my opinion.
There are noteworthy performances too by Alex Young (choreographer Irena) and Elliot Levey (coarse Simon Cowel-esque Kaczmarek).
The whole show is brilliant. If you like you shows to be stylish, moody, joyous, tragic, and tuneful you need look no further.
Go see.
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