Premiere – 14 of October, 2016

The very first day at school, the first lesson. Boys and girls are exited and full of expectations. 10 youngsters laugh, play and quarrel sometimes.

Then the Second World War begins. They are still bound as the classmates but now they belong to opposite parties. Some of them are Jews, some are those who are going to destroy them. The classmates turn into victims and executioners.

The play was written in 2008 by a Poland dramatist Tadeusz Slobodzianek. It is based on the eventsin Jedwabne at the beginning of World War II, when Polish villagers murdered their Jewish neighbors.

This tragedy has the particular historical origin and at the same time it the universal story. The production is striking. It tells us about humanity and humiliation.

Natalya Kovaleva, the director: “We all make choices in our everyday life. How to make a right decision which allows not to carry a heavy burden of mistakes and guilt? Is it possible at all? Was it possible to make a correct choice back there in 1940-s? Some characters find the excuse pretending that their actions couldn’t prevent the catastrophe anyway. That’s not true, every person matters”.

Awards of the production:

‘Moskovsky Komsomolets award’ for the Best cast, 2017

‘Fiddler on the Roof award’, 2018

18+

Duration: 3 hours (with one interval)