Stallion Theater Company’s fall production of Letters to Sala was brought to stage last week. This historical drama was a window to the past, as it presented the audience with real life experiences from the Holocaust.
The story follows Sala Garncarz, a Holocaust Survivor, who was sent to seven different labor and concentration camps over the span of five years (1940-1945). She kept letters that she wrote to her loved ones and people at other camps, as well as the letters she received back, throughout her time in those camps. In total, she saved over 350 letters to document the history and to preserve the memories. Eventually, the letters exposed details of the cruelty of the Nazis that was hidden from the world at the time.
Due to the play retelling events that occurred in history, the characters in this play were actual people who lived in Nazi occupied eastern Europe and went through the concentration camps. Because of the historical importance of this play, the actors were assigned to do a research project to find out more about their characters.
As soon as they were cast, the students were told to find out who their character was in relation to Sala and gather together any pictures or other background information about them.
“They’re on tech boards which we do for every show because the designers have to do it as a part of their assignment for class. But, for this show specifically, because it’s a historical drama, Ms. Graff thought it would be nice to honor those people and to educate the audience on who these people were,” said junior Sebastian Garcia, who played Herbert Pache in the play.
Even if a student couldn’t find a handful of information, they would leave it blank to show how little information there was on their person.
“It’s just really impactful to go through the hall when you’re going to go to your seats to sit, that seeing these empty posters and realizing that there aren’t records of these people, and the letters [as mentioned before] are the only records of these people. It’s keeping them alive,” said Senior Allison Piwonka, who played Old Sala in the play.
It’s just really impactful to go through the hall when you’re going to go to your seats to sit, that seeing these empty posters and realizing that there aren’t records of these people, and the letters [as mentioned before] are the only records of these people. It’s keeping them alive”
— Allison Piwonka
This project allowed the students to connect with their characters even more and learn some interesting things about them (such as their personality, opinions, or the way they looked) in order to perform their parts accurately and authentically.
“Not everyone had the luxury of having videos and documentaries about their characters, but I really got to watch how she spoke, what she looked like. I also got to model my wig after her hair and then I looked at her body language, how she used her hands, and her speech patterns,” said Piwonka.
Having this background information in mind helped the actors feel the meaning and intention behind their lines.
“There’s a line I say [as Old Sala] in the show where my daughter [in the show] asks me ‘Oh, why didn’t you tell us about the letters?’ and I’m like ‘I wanted you to be happy, I didn’t want you to have guilt for what I went through. I don’t want you to hate other people because of what I went through” said Piwonka.
Overall, the research project gave students the opportunity to enhance the accuracy in the production by learning about the past and the Holocaust. Remembering history and educating oneself on the factual circumstances of the past is something that will always remain relevant in the world, especially when reflecting on current events.
