The Pianist by Various, pi 16 jan 2009, Od (2009/2009), Režírované Rachel McDonald, Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills, Australia

The Pianist was Presented by Company B and Sydney Festival and is based on the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman. In September 1939, concert pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman was midway through a performance of Chopin’s Nocturne in D Flat Major for Polish Radio when the Nazis pulled the power. Six years later, after an infernal odyssey of survival during which he saved his sanity by playing silently on a tabletop every day, Szpilman returned to Polish Radio and completed his recital. The Pianist is his memoir of those six years. Half a century down the track another great concert pianist, the internationally acclaimed Mikhail Rudy, read Szpilman’s memoir and dreamt up a sublime retelling of the story. Part concert, part play, The Pianist is a duet for two Szpilmans: Rudy on piano and a solo actor recounting the story. Rudy had been performing the work around the world. Then he came to Belvoir St for a special production with Company B.