Ten classmates—five Jewish and five Catholic Poles—grow up as friends and neighbors, then face the awakening of hatred, with life-and-death consequences. Inspired by real-life events surrounding a 1941 pogrom in a small Polish village, this shocking, timely story follows their lives from childhood through eight decades in a new contemporary production of Tadeusz Słobodzianek’s 2008 masterpiece, “Our Class,” from Ukrainian-born Jewish director Igor Golyak.

In 2023, Sara Stackhouse, producing director of Arlekin Players, the theater company staging the show, told me about an idea for a trip—an incredibly powerful-sounding reconnaissance mission to Poland to visit Jedwabne, the town where the play is set. A town where the 1,600 Jewish residents were burned to death in a barn in one of the most terrible pogroms of the Holocaust.

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A few months after describing this powerful trip to me, Sara and Arlekin Players founding artistic director Igor Golyak made the trip, seeing the places where “Our Class” took place, walking the steps of the characters, and coming to understand the layers of history and memory that inform this challenging and beautiful show, and giving Igor the personal connection and feeling that ultimately make this show so powerful.

I was so taken by this pilgrimage that I made my own pilgrimage to Brooklyn in 2024 to see the premiere of this powerful show. Now, as the acclaimed show heads to Boston (June 13-22), I wanted to take an inside look at the Arlekin Players’ team trip to Poland that helped shape this powerful show, and why it’s important for today. These photos help illustrate this emotional research trip and help paint a picture of what “Our Class” brings to life.

Igor Golyak walks the long road through Jedwabne towards the barn, the site of the 1941 porgrom.
Igor Golyak, center, walks the long road through Jedwabne toward the barn, the site of the 1941 pogrom. (Courtesy photo)
The stone memorial that pays homage to the Jewish community of Jedwabne.
A stone memorial pays homage to the Jewish community of Jedwabne. (Courtesy photo)
Igor Golyak spends a moment reading the story of the town as described by the memorial.
Igor Golyak spends a moment reading the story of the town as described by the memorial. (Courtesy photo)

Intrigued to hear more? Igor will be at the Vilna Shul on Friday, May 16, for a special conversation about this trip and “Our Class” over Shabbat services. Housed in the historic Vilna Shul that was built in the same period as this story, it will be an especially moving evening.

“Our Class” will be at Calderwood Pavilion in Boston from June 13-22. Get tickets.

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