Chats Palace is delighted to present the London premiere (Wed 23 – Fri 25 March 2016) of a multi-award winning, international hit. Inspired by the life of Zajac’s father, The Tailor of Inverness by playwright/performer Matthew Zajac (Dogstar) and director Ben Harrison (Grid Iron) is a story of the impact of war on ordinary of life in the Scottish Highlands. It’s about a boy who grew up on a farm in Galicia in Eastern Poland, now Western Ukraine and became a tailor in Inverness.
The tailor’s life spanned the 20th century, and the journey he took was made by thousands of Poles during the Second World War. A forced migration, subject to the brutal vagaries of war, he travelled and fought throughout Europe, the Soviet Union, the Middle East and England. In a new country, he became a new man and integrated himself into the fabric of life in the Scottish Highlands. This is the story he told – how a life and an identity can be reconstructed.
But there is another story, for in order to survive the tailor had to adopt different identities. Like all immigrants, he had to adapt and he did that very successfully. He made clothes for thousands of people, constructing the outward trappings which play a part in defining who we are. This man’s story is not straightforward. He was one of millions whose fate was determined by massive upheavals over which he had no control. But was he really who he said he was?
The Tailor of Inverness is a multi-award-winning “international wonder”, performed around the world, including a sell-out 3-week run in New York. This extraordinary production tells the story of the tailor’s life and his son’s discoveries about his father through music, poetry, theatrical imagery, storytelling, moving and still video projections, costume and choreography. Live violin, performed by one of Scotland’s finest fiddlers, Gavin Marwick, weaves its way evocatively through the piece, with traditional and original songs and tunes from Scotland, Poland and Russia.
The performance will be held on 23rd , 24th and 25th March 2016 at 7.45 p.m. at Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DF (station: Homerton Overground)
Dogstar’s London residency is supported by Polish Cultural Institute and UNISON.
More information on: Chats Palace | Tickets online
Photo © Tim Morozzo – Matthew Zając at the “The Tailor of Inverness”