IRENA\'S VOW the true story of an unsung heroine

Featuring a cast of ten and starring four-time Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh, Irena’s Vow, a new play by Dan Gordon is the riveting, life-affirming story of a courageous and unsung heroine of World War II. During the German occupation of Poland, Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic, was forced to work as head housekeeper for a very prominent German major. Over a two-year period of service, Irena would risk her own life in order to protect the lives of twelve Jewish refugees whom she secretly took under her care. Irena’s Vow is the extraordinary true story of one woman\'s choice and the twelve lives that would ultimately be saved - or lost - by her decision.

In 1982 Irena Gut Opdyke was named by the Israeli Holocaust Commission a Righteous Among the Nations, a title given to gentiles who risked their lives by aiding and saving Jews during the Holocaust, and was presented with the Israel Medal of Honor, Israel\'s highest tribute, in a ceremony at Jerusalem\'s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. The Vatican has given her a special commendation, and her story is part of a permanent exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post wrote of “the clarity and conviction of a woman to whom acts of heroism and courage are simply natural human responses to inhumanity”. Though less widely known than legendary figures like Jan Karski and Irena Sendler, Irena Gut Opdyke exemplifies the ingenuity and courage of many individual Poles who, often under even more perilous conditions, similarly risked even more than their own lives.

Irena’s Vow will mark Ms. Feldshuh’s first New York stage appearance since her triumphant (and Tony Award-nominated) turn in Golda’s Balcony (Broadway’s longest-running one-woman show). The Production is being presented by The Directors Company in association with The Polish Cultural Institute in New York and Power Production, NY and is an Invictus Theater Company world premiere.

SEPTEMBER 7 - NOVEMBER 2, 2008
MONDAY-SATURDAY, 8:00 PM; SATURDAY & SUNDAY MATINEE, 3:00 PM
(no performances on Tuesdays as well as Sept. 29 & 30, Oct. 8 & 9.)

Baruch Performing Arts Center
East 25th Street (btwn Lexington & 3rd Avenues), New York City
Tickets: $55, Student Rush tickets $25
Tel. 212.352.3101 or www.theatermania.com