Jawnuta - Roma Stories
Teatr Wielki Poznan
Winner at the International Opera Awards 2023, Best Rediscovered Work

“The production of Stanisław Moniuszko’s ‘Jawnuta’ by the Grand Theatre in Poznań, directed by Ilaria Lanzino, was awarded by the jury of the International Opera Awards in the category ‘Best Rediscovered Work.’ ‘Jawnuta’ is not just a story about difficult love despite prejudices and stereotypes. It is also an extraordinary lesson in tolerance and a reminder of the tragic history of the Roma during World War II. A bold, surprising production.”

— E-Teatr

“An impressive production of great theatrical beauty, with intricately crafted group scenes, precise acting tasks for the choristers, and interestingly sketched characters for the main actors.”

— Tygodnik Angora

“This bold production demonstrates the infinite possibilities that non-traditional theater venues can offer. (…) Ilaria Lanzino’s direction (from Pisa, in her early thirties and already involved in numerous productions) denies a comforting ending and places Jawnuta at the edge of a track that disappears into the distance, making it clear what the arrival station is. We are in the 1940s, the extermination camps are fully operational, and the trains lead to death in the Nazi camps. The stylized gas chamber (a simple illuminated cube) removes any doubt that there can be no understanding or reconciliation as the original work suggests. The epilogue is inevitably tragic: The death of the young Gypsy girl, punished by her lover’s father for daring to ‘jump’ into bourgeois society, is an idea that betrays the original but takes on a sense of necessity. The dramatic discrepancy between text and theatrical outcome is considerable, especially since Moniuszko’s music rarely ventures into such rough situations and temperatures. (…) [Lanzino] has immersed herself in the living flesh of drama, bringing it to places Moniuszko’s music and the original text objectively could not reach.”

— Classic Voice

“However, the most important element of this special production is the direction (…) The great advantage of Lanzino’s direction lies not only in the innovative yet coherent view of the content of the performance but also in the great attention to its visual aspect. (…) In Lanzino’s interpretation, each of these elements had a place and application, and none of them was a value in itself. (…) extremely colorful, beautiful, and touching.”

— Kultura Poznan

“A touching memorial to the lost history of the Roma.”

— International Opera Magazine

“Ilaria Lanzino has created an excellent, contemporary, and touching production. (…) In the pavilion of the International Fair Poznań, a shocking, contemporary story about the relationships between two communities, the Roma and the Poles, was depicted. Using recent history, the fate of an ethnic group was shown and how difficult reconciliation and understanding are when even love cannot overcome aversion and hatred. This project is a success because it is enlightening in many ways (…) It was extremely risky to combine Moniuszko’s music with contemporary Roma compositions (…) Emotions and a clear dramaturgical concept are the strengths of the Poznań premiere. The departure from a schematic, banal story to show the turbulent fate of the Roma has a dimension that is not only sentimental but also aims to foster an honest conversation about the lives of two communities side by side. In these stories, there is no falsehood, no sugar-coating. With honesty and courage. (…) ‘Jawnuta’ is an excellent example of how to play with the past to speak about recent, painful history and the present. May it soon return to the fairground hall in Poznań, as this production is a must for opera lovers.”

— Kulturalny Cham

“Ilaria Lanzino’s portrayal of the Roma goes far beyond the extinguished fate of an eradicated culture, history, or language. The love of Chicha and Stach reflects human darkness like a mirror (…) Ilaria Lanzino addresses the oppressed without hesitation (…). We despise because we have been taught to, because we have placed ourselves on a pedestal. We continue, we do not look to the side. Without Chicha, without Jawnuta, who become symbols for all those excluded by society.”

— E-Teatr.PL

“The recent premiere of the Grand Theatre in Poznań proved that tradition carries within it the need for change and seeks to reveal its new meaning through it. It was directed by Ilaria Lanzino, an Italian director known for her unconventional and innovative productions. (…) On December 16 of this year, we saw and heard at the hospitable International Fair in Poznań, in Hall 1, what not only opens eyes and ears but above all hearts that can love, and those for whom this awareness is foreign or indifferent. ‘Jawnuta’ by the Grand Theatre in Poznań is an event that meets the expectations that lie dormant in contemporary Poles, Roma, Europeans... but only the meeting of their feelings on stage creates a dialogue. Sometimes it is silence, at other times a cry on the threshold of song. But it is always a crossing of a threshold that was once a boundary. (…) In ‘Jawnuta,’ drama and dramaturgy become lovers for each other, a path and a guide that refuse to exist without one another. This is the role of socially engaged art. This is the task of artists who, with their creations, uncover and discover forgotten or new cultural contexts.”

— Nasz Glos

“An unusual, must-see opera evening (…) A compelling adaptation. Like many other literary or musical-theatrical works of the 19th century about Gypsy life, Moniuszko’s ‘Jawnuta’ serves romanticized and folkloristic clichés. Ilaria Lanzino thoroughly dispels these in her production at the Teatr Wielki Poznań. She shows neither idyll nor happy ending: Stach’s father murders Chicha because of her relationship with his son. The director, who already modernized Moniuszko’s ‘Straszny Dwór’ (‘The Haunted Manor’) in Poznań in 2021 and won the European Opera Directing Prize for her concept, links the original plot with the historical suffering of the Roma minorities, creating compelling tableaux of flight and expulsion, culminating in the deportation to Auschwitz (…) A moving lament, ending in the hope for a better future.”

— Orpheus Magazine