About
A Musical Adaptation of the Iconic Memoir
Based on the internationally bestselling memoir by Wladyslaw Szpilman
Based on Wladyslaw Szpilman's internationally bestselling memoir, Thom Southerland's remarkable new production brings one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary true stories to the stage featuring Szpilman's own music for the first time.
A cast of virtuoso actor-musicians conjures the golden age of Jewish Warsaw's packed concert halls, candlelit cafés, and irrepressible spirit through Szpilman's luminous compositions, orchestrated by Simon Lee (Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-time musical director).
A profound, life-affirming celebration of creativity and the enduring power of music.
Concept
A story told through memory, music, and survival
It is 1945, the war has just ended. Wladyslaw Szpilman is struggling to write his memoir, but is besieged by doubt and fear until his memories — of family, friends, fellow musicians, and foes — all come to vivid life around him, cajoling and goading him to share his riveting story.
An ensemble of actor musicians enables us to see, hear and feel the vibrance of Warsaw before the war, the deep and warm bonds within the Szpilman family, and the terrors and trials of the war that Szpilman must experience on the way to his ultimate triumph through the saving power of music.
Throughout, we see Szpilman equally as a survivor and a composer, revealing his story through his melodies as much as through his memories.
Development
From workshop to the London stage
April 2025
Workshop
Initially staged as a workshop at Mayflower Studios, co-produced by Wolk Transfer Company and Mayflower Southampton, and starring Daniel Krikler as Szpilman.
January 2026
The Cast Album
14 songs and 2 instrumentals from the show: a newly discovered trove of indelible songs by an until-now underappreciated genius.
Out now on all platforms9–12 September 2026
Southampton
Fully staged for the first time at Mayflower Studios, Southampton.
15 October–28 November 2026
London Debut
The Pianist makes its London debut at the Park Theatre.
Opens 15 OctoberA Brief History of the Memoir
From censorship to international bestseller — the story behind the story
When he was thirteen years old Andreas Szpilman discovered the unimaginable about his father from a book tucked away on a shelf. The book was Death of a City: Memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman 1939–1945, his father's memoir recounting his survival in the Warsaw Ghetto after the complete annihilation of his family during the Holocaust.
At first, Andreas did not accept that this was his father's story, or that it could be his. But he still needed answers to the question: why is the whole family of my father dead?
Like many other Holocaust survivors, Wladyslaw Szpilman did not discuss the events of the war, or his trauma directly with his son. But Andreas soon became devoted to sharing his father's astonishing memoir with the world.
Published immediately after the war in 1946, the memoir was quickly withdrawn by censors in Poland. The memoir was not reprinted until over half a century later when Szpilman's son prepared the memoir's 1998 publication.
Owing to Andreas' continued dedication, The Pianist has since become an international best-seller with 42 translations, as well as an Academy Award-winning film.