View source for Irena's Vow

{{Short description|Play written by Dan Gordon}}
{{italic title}}
'''''Irena's Vow''''' is a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] play recounting the story of [[Irena Gut]], a Polish nurse who, at the risk of her life, saved twelve [[Jew]]s during [[World War II]] in [[Nazi Germany|German]]-[[occupied Poland]].<ref name=playbill/>
==Production history==
The play opened at Broadway's [[Walter Kerr Theatre]] at 219 West 48th Street (between Broadway and 8th Avenue) on 29 March 2009,<ref name=polestar>"''Przysięga Ireny''" ("Irena's Vow"), ''Gwiazda Polarna'' (Pole Star), vol. 100, no. 7 (March 28, 2009), p. 14.</ref> after having premiered off-Broadway at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in September 2008. The ninety-minute play opened at the Kerr Theatre with the same cast from off-Broadway.<ref name=playbill>Andrew Gans, [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124530.html "Feldshuh to Return to Broadway in March in Irena's Vow"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225003521/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124530.html |date=2008-12-25 }}, playbill.com, 22 December 2008.</ref>
The play was written by [[Dan Gordon (screenwriter)|Dan Gordon]], based on conversations that he had held with Irene Gut-Opdyke (''née'' [[Irena Gut]]). Gordon "captures... peculiarly Polish elements: the heroine's irony and sense of humor in the face of catastrophe." He deftly draws the historic backdrop to Irena's story and creates a suspenseful narrative and "enthralling dialog."<ref name=polestar/>
The title role is played by [[Tovah Feldshuh]]. Appearing in other roles are Sandi Carroll, [[Tracee Chimo]], Steven Hauck, Scott Klaven, [[Peter Reznikoff]], Thomas Ryan, Gene Silvers, John Stanisci and [[Maja Wampuszyc]].
''Irena's Vow'' is directed by Michael Parva. Scenic design is by Kevin Judge; lighting design, David Castaneda; costume design, Astrid Brucker; sound design and music composition, Quentin Chiappetta; and projection design, Alex Koch.<ref name=polestar/><ref name=playbill/>
On June 16, 2009 it was announced that ''Irena's Vow'' would close on June 28.  At the time of its closure, it had played 21 previews and 105 regular performances.<ref>Gans, Andrew.[https://archive.today/20120907082649/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/130282 "Irena's Vow to Close on Broadway June 28,"] playbill.com, June 16, 2009</ref>
''[[Irena's Vow (film)|Irena's Vow]]'', a film adaptation written by Gordon and directed by [[Louise Archambault]], went into production in 2022 in [[Lublin]]<ref name=tournage>[https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1889951/louise-archambault-irenas-vow-sophie-nelisse-dougray-scott-pologne-ukraine "Louise Archambault de retour d’un tournage de film tout près de l’Ukraine"]. [[Ici Radio-Canada]], June 9, 2022.</ref> and premiered at the [[2023 Toronto International Film Festival]].<ref>John Hazelton, [https://www.screendaily.com/news/tiff-sets-centrepiece-line-up-of-international-cinema/5184801.article "TIFF sets Centrepiece line-up of international cinema"]. ''[[Screen Daily]]'', August 10, 2023.</ref>
==Story==
After [[Poland]] was invaded by [[German invasion of Poland|Germany]] and the [[Soviet invasion of Poland|Soviet Union]] in September 1939, [[Irena Gut]] a 19 year old Polish [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] nurse at the outbreak of [[World War II]], was captured by the Soviet Army. After escaping, she was caught in a German [[łapanka|roundup]] to be used as a [[slave labor]]er.<ref name=polestar/>
Eventually she became the housekeeper to a German army major. After she witnessed the gruesome fate of [[Jew]]s in German-occupied Poland, Gut resolved at the risk of her life to conceal a dozen Jews threatened by the German [[Holocaust]] extermination program. The penalty that the Germans imposed on any Pole found to be harboring or otherwise aiding Jews was death.<ref name=polestar/>
One day Gut's employer discovered that she was concealing Jews in his house. Gut begged him to spare them; he agreed to, and never betrayed them or her. Gut became the German officer's mistress. Before the [[Red Army]] arrived, she fled with the people that she was protecting into the forest. After the war, suspected falsely by some of having collaborated with the Germans, she emigrated to the United States.<ref name=polestar/>
==See also==
*[[List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust]]
*[[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
*"''Przysięga Ireny''" ("Irena's Oath"), ''[[Gwiazda Polarna]]'' (Pole Star), vol. 100, no. 7 (March 28, 2009), p. 14.
==External links==
*[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=482325 Internet Broadway Database listing]
*Andrew Gans, [https://web.archive.org/web/20081225003521/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124530.html "Feldshuh to Return to Broadway in March in Irena's Vow"], playbill.com, 22 December 2008.
*Willborn Hampton, [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/theater/reviews/26iren.html "Hiding Innocents and Keeping Evil at Bay"], New York Times, 26 September 2008.
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:2009 plays]]
[[Category:Plays based on actual events]]
[[Category:Plays about World War II]]
[[Category:Fiction about Jews and Judaism]]
[[Category:Plays set in Poland]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into films]]