Jeromy Darling, Jeremy Stanbary, and Sarah Stanbary Photo by Up North Creative

When, earlier this season, the company found it necessary to postpone their planned premiere of Joan of Arc until next season, and needed to find something sufficiently gripping but also ready to mount on short notice, they turned again to Lolek. Stanbary, who is Open Window's artistic director, stated that he was sure that sooner or later they would bring Lolek back to their stage, and the circumstances aligned to make this the right time.

Lolek is a beautifully written and engrossing play, offering a good balance between insights into the man who would become Pope and the historical context which was his cauldron. Stanbary makes judicious use of flashback scenes and such occasional devices as a BBC news flash to enlarge upon this context. In this way, we gain insight into the turmoil Karol Wojtyla, nicknamed Lolek as a child, endured in Poland under Nazi occupation. The Nazis officially allowed the practice of both Protestant and Catholic churches but, in fact, suppressed Catholicism and imprisoned many Catholic leaders accused of resistance against the Reich.

The play began with Lolek in his early twenties as a deeply devout man who identified as an artist, writing poetry and plays, and acting in secret performances presented in an underground theater he and his friends had organized. Just to attend such a performance was to risk one's life, let alone to create and present works that spoke against oppression of the spirit and encouraged seeking truth in sources higher than the Fuhrer. In flashback, Lolek was seen with his close friend Jurek, a Jew who had begun to suffer the torment of Nazi antisemitism. Lolek was shocked to realize that the demons of hatred so rife in Germany had surfaced in his Polish homeland and that his friend was in grave danger.

One of Lolek's partners in the theater, a woman named Halina, had been Lolek's friend for many years. The two displayed great simpatico toward one another, and another friend, Juliusz, teased Lolek with suggestions that there was more than friendship between them. Indeed, it appeared that could easily have become the case, and Halina seemed to encourage such talk, but Lolek held back.

Lolek had lost everyone in his family but his ailing father. A sister died before he was born, his mother died when he was only eight years old, and a much-loved older brother died of scarlet fever. Thus, Lolek was very devoted to his father and we witnessed the crushing affect his father's death had upon him. A year later, Lolek revealed to Halina his decision to enter the priesthood. She was shocked and tried to talk him out of it, conveying a sense that her concern was in part that he is impulsively making a decision based on his continued grief over his father's death, and in part that she harbored hopes of a different outcome for the two of them. Lolek was resolute and if anything, his ability to counter her arguments gave him confidence that he made the right choice.

Because the war was still on, he attended an underground seminary. He was directed to change nothing about his daily routine to allay any suspicions. This included his "day job" hammering rocks in a quarry, a job he took to avoid conscription into the army of the Reich. He endured the war and its Nazi oppression, only to face a new order of oppression under the Communists. The play takes us quickly through Lolek's rise in the Catholic church to becoming Pope John Paul II, ending with words of tribute to the impact he had on breaking down an entrenched system of oppression.

Jeremy Stanbary, by his own admission during a post-show talk-back session, has aged out of the role of Lolek since the play's inception. He cannot pass as so young a man from a physical standpoint, yet he still brought a blaze of youthful righteousness to his performance and conveyed Lolek's passion for his calling that enabled him to persevere through arduous conditions. There are hopes of taking Lolek on tour and Stanbary has already announced Open Window's intention to cast a younger actor in the lead role. A wise choice, even though Stanbary continues to have the heart of Lolek.

Sarah Stanbary played Halina when Lolek opened in late April, but sustained a serious back injury hallway through the run and had to bow out. She was replaced by Eleanor Koop, a 19-year-old actor who accomplished the amazing feat of learning the role and the accent that goes with it, in four days. Because I wasn't able to get to Lolek until its final weekend, it was Koop's performance that I saw, and by any measure, it was flawless. She delivered the character's wide range of emotions as if she'd rehearsed with her castmates from the start, and had impeccable timing in her interactions with veteran Jeremy Stanbary.

Jeromy Darling completed the cast, playing six different roles. These include theatre-friend Juliusz, which calls for a playful demeanor, and Jurek, Lolek's Jewish friend who must convey a difficult blend of fear and bitterness, along with affection for his friend who cares but cannot truly know what he is going through. He also played a trio of Nazis, the last of them transforming into a veritable devil before our eyes. Darling gave masterful performances in all of these guises. My only disappointment was that the heavy accent employed as the Nazis made it difficult to catch many of his words as they were spoken. However, I had no problem grasping their sinister intent.

The play was well paced, moving smoothly through the episodes which constitute these pivotal years in Karol Wojtyla's life. Each new scene emerged gently from the previous, aided greatly by the shifts in tone and focus provided by Sue Berger's lighting design. Nate Farley's set design was a set of rather open-ended platforms, with appropriate furnishings that concealed the numerous props (also designed by Farley) needed in the play. The setting worked in tandem with projection designs (designed by Jeremy Stanbary) that established locations, or in some cases provided photographs of characters as they are portrayed on stage, bringing us more deeply into their place in history.

Jeremy Stanbary designed sound, which was an important adjunct throughout, with musical undertones at times, those high static BBC reports, and, in tandem with Berger's lighting, a vivid depiction of a bomb attack. Mary Beth Schmid's costumes reflected the styles of the early 1940s for Halina, and the apparel of progressive-minded young adult males that blended bookishness with working class values.

The decision to present Lolek this spring became even more serendipitous after the recent death of Pope Francis and election of Pope Leo XIV renewed interest in the papacy and its connection to the context, on an international scale, of the man who rises to that position. Like Pope Francis, who was the first pope from the Americas, and his successor Leo XIV, the first Pope from the United States, John Paul II broke barriers as the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years and the first Pope ever from Poland, a heavily Catholic nation.

That background made a difference, as John Paul II is credited with triggering the demise of the Soviet Union and Communism throughout eastern Europe, beginning with his support for the workers' movement led by Lech Walesa, who went on to become the first president of post-Communist Poland. Pope Leo XIV too faces challenges in bringing the values he espouses for church to bear upon the fraught conditions of Western society at this moment in history.

Lolek offers a glimpse into the makings of a man who rose from humble beginnings to greatness. It also conveys the truism that eternal values of goodness and righteousness exist within a social-political context, and that those who wish to affect change must pay attention to both.

Lolek ran through April 25, 2025 through May 25 at Open Window Theatre, 5300 S Robert Trail, Inver Grove Heights MN. For information call 612-615-1515 or go to openwindowtheatre.org.

Playwright: Jeremy Stanbary; Director: Jeremy Stanbary and Stephen O'Toole; Set and Props Design: Nate Farley; Costume Design: Marybeth Schmid; Lighting Design: Sue Berger; Sound and Projections Design: Jeremy Stanbary; Props Design: Nate Farley; Stage Manager: Kendra Kispert; Assistant Stage Manager: Stephanie Mogren.

Cast: Jeromy Darling (Julusz/Jurek/Jerzey/ Nazis), Eleanor Koop (Halina – May 16 – May 25), Jeremy Stanbary (Lolek - Karol Wojtyla), Sarah Stanbary (Halina – April 25 – May 10).