In 1940 approximately 1.5 million Polish people, mainly women and children, were forcibly deported by the Soviet NKVD. They were sent to labour camps in Kazakhstan, Siberia and Uzbekistan. In 1941, some of the prisoners escaped. We follow one family’s selfless struggle. We see how the child of the family resists the ordeal of capture and how her mother and grandparents rise above hardship to give her a future. We even glimpse the world of the prison guard and how he is torn between duty and compassion. Most of all, this is a play about how hope defeats despair. Copernicana and firstlight present it to honour the struggle of refugees everywhere.

From the author:

This play is the story of one of these families: my own. I explore their journey from being turned out of their home, transported thousands of kilometres, and surviving a Kazakhstan labour camp. We follow the characters’ selfless struggle, so that family and love triumph in the end. We see how the child of the family resists the ordeal of capture and how her mother and grandparents rise above hardship to give her a future. We even glimpse the world of the prison guard and how he is torn between duty and compassion. Most of all, this is a play about how hope defeats despair, and it honours the struggle of our ancestors. Having made her way to the UK with her daughter, my grandmother had these words in her heart: Do Not Forget Me, indeed, she had this carved in her gravestone. It is an honour to present her story because it is shared by thousands of Polish survivors of Soviet terror.

 The Bear Pit Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6LU

 Tue 9th July 2024 – Sat 13th July 2024

TICKETS