The production of Korzcak - the heartrending but uplifting true story of Janusz Korczak and the orphan children in his care living in the notorious Warsaw Ghetto and their demise in the Death Camp at Treblinka.

'Promises to be extraordinary' - The Observer (July 2005)

'This is Polished Youth Theatre' - The Scotsman (August 2005)

'Exceptionally talented Young Cast' - Three Weeks (August 2005)

Korczak was produced in collaboration with Ojemba Productions

Promoting Korczak on the Royal Mile

Background

The company made it's debut at the Edinburgh Fringe, earning a nomination for the Amnesty International Award at the Festival and considerable acclaim. One letter written to the St. Ives Town Crier described the performance as a 'uniquely moving experience of rare depth and beauty'. In prepartion for the production, a group from St. Ives Youth Theatre visited Poland, meeting the present day inhabitants of Dr. Korczak's orphanage in Warsaw as well as Treblinka and Auschwitz.

Each year Amnesty International presents the U Win Tin Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award to a production which highlights the plight of those suffering at the hands of other people. St. Ives Youth Theatre was one of the nominees for this award in 2005.

The Writers

Nick Stimson - Nick is a playwright and theatre director. He is an Associate Director at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and an Honorary Fellow of Exeter University.  He has also written and directed for radio and television. Among musicals written with the composer Chris Williams are: Brother Jacques, Wistman’s Drum, Stand Up Noah Small, Stay Tuned, Monkey, The Hot Rock, Starchild, Korczak, The Lost Domain and Unforgotten. Other plays include That Certain Night, The Seven Deadly Sins, Tristan and Isolde, The Last Dance, Union Street & Matthew Miller (the last two both with Nick Discombe), All Change (with Ian MacMillan and Howard Moody), NHS The Musical (with Jimmy Jewell), Borderline (radio), and for TV Sumo. Nick’s plays have been produced in Britain and abroad and he has won several major awards including, most recently, The Vivian Ellis Prize for the Best Musical for Young People (Starchild). He has also written three collections of poetry: In Magnet Air (Phoenix Press), Histories (Priapus Press) and Flying Pigs (Enitharmon).  He is currently writing the new full-scale version of Frankenstein for YMTUK and Who Ate All The Pies?, a musical about football, both with that talented young composer Jimmy Jewell. A devoted supporter of Crystal Palace FC, he is alos a passionate believer in miracles.

Chris Williams - Chris began his musical career at the age of eight as a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Having won a scholarship to study Music at New College, Oxford, he went on to study postgraduate composition and piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he won several prestigious prizes, including the Royal Philharmonic Prize for composition. He is at present living in India where he has written and produced a musical play, “The Coolie’s Tale”, to celebrate the centenary of the Kalka-Shimla Railway. He has written and was Musical Director of an Indian version of “Stand Up, Noah Small!”, performed by children from 19 schools in Bangalore. He has just completed a commission, “Stage Songs”, for the Schools’ Prom in Royal Albert Hall. Meanwhile, he helped found The Young Company and The People’s Company for the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, UK, for whom he composed and directed many musical plays, of which “Brother Jacques”, “Monkey”, “StarChild” and ”Korczak” have won major awards. He has also been to Switzerland, The Czech Republic and Poland, working with young people to present musical plays and run workshops.

Theatre group's cash joy - Huntingdon & St. Ives Weekly News - 22 March 2005