''More Lies About Jerzy'' is a play written by

Davey Holmes Davey Holmes (born October 4, 1969 in Massachusetts) is an American screenwriter, producer and playwright. He is the creator and executive producer of the television show ''Get Shorty'' on Epix. Career Holmes began his writing career in New ...

, inspired by the last days of the

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Jerzy Kosiński Jerzy Kosiński (born Józef Lewinkopf; ; June 14, 1933 – May 3, 1991) was a Polish-American novelist and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N., who wrote primarily in English. Born in Poland, he survived World War II and, as a ...

. It was first produced

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 2001, at the

Vineyard Theatre The Vineyard Theatre is an Off-Broadway non-profit theatre company, located at 108 East 15th Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Union Square. Its first production was in 1981. It is best known for its productions of the Tony award-winning ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It premiered in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at the

New End Theatre The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-defunc ...

and in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at the

Hayworth Theatre The Hayworth Theatre is a theater and performing arts center at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The facility houses 99-seat, 42-seat and 49-seat auditoriums and a 1,500 square-foot ballroom used f ...

. The play is published by

Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Broadway Play Publishing Inc (BPPI) was established in New York City in 1982 to publish and license the stage performance rights of contemporary American plays. The Broadway Play Publishing Inc catalog consists of over 1,000 plays and nearly 400 ...

Synopsis

A world-famous

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish writer, Jerzy Lesnewski, is suspected as having lied about his childhood during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

New York reviews

In its first run, the play received both positive and mixed reviews. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Bruce Weber wrote: "It is a work of admirable ambition and, indeed, perhaps its chief flaw is that it feels bulky and overloaded." In the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'',

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...

called it “electrifying" and "completely engrossing,” and Donald Lyons, also in the ''Post'', wrote that it was “exciting, compelling theater, about something that matters,” and "a meditation, serious but entertaining, on the ways people invent themselves.” Gordon Cox's review in ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' called the play "a smart, complicated look at a self-made celebrity,” but that "it's too bad that Holmes felt compelled to include the truth about Jerzy in "More Lies About Jerzy," because it's all those masterfully crafted lies that give his play such intelligence and texture.” The play was awarded "Critics Pick" by ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

New York''. Referring to the play in an interview with ''The New York Times'', in 2001,

said, "I was always interested in people who invent themselves: celebrities, politicians, salesmen, actors. People who have... the choice of whether to rename themselves or not, to manufacture how they behave or are perceived."

Los Angeles reviews

The reviews for the Los Angeles production were mainly raves, selected as "Critic's Choice" by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'' and ''

Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

''. The production was "Ovation Recommended" by the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. Jack Stehlin's performance in the lead role was nominated for Best Actor by the ''Los Angeles Times''.

Casts

Original New York cast; Vineyard Theatre, 2001; directed by

Darko Tresnjak Darko Tresnjak ( sr-cyr, Дарко Трешњак, Darko Trešnjak) is a director of plays, musicals, and opera, and winner of several awards, including the Tony Award. He was the artistic director of the Hartford Stage in Connecticut, United St ...

Jared Harris Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the AMC television drama series ''Mad Men'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Serie ...

as Jerzy Lesnewski *

Gretchen Egolf Gretchen Egolf (born September 9, 1973) is an American theater, film and television actress. Early life and education Egolf was born and raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of artist Paula Egolf and stepfather Gary Egolf. Her ...

Daniel London Daniel London (born 1973) is an American actor, best known for his roles in ''Patch Adams'', ''Rent'' and ''Old Joy''. Life and career Born and raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, London began writing and acting in plays in high school. While ...

Lizbeth MacKay Lizbeth Mackay (born March 7, 1949) is an American actress. She works primarily in the theatre and television. Life and career Mackay was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Robert J. Mackay, a salesman, and Alice (née Steurnagel), a dance ...

* Boris McGiver * Betty Miller *

Portia Reiners Portia Sullivan Reiners (born March 8, 1990) is an American actress. She has worked in theater, television, and film. Her television career includes the role of Britney Jennings on ''One Life to Live''. Career Reiners began her acting career in t ...

Martin Shakar Martin Shakar (born January 1, 1940) is an American theatre, film and television actor. He was born in Detroit, Michigan to an Armenian/Assyrian family from Adıyaman, Turkey and lives in Brooklyn, New York. A life member of The Actors Studio, ...

* Adam Stein * Gary Wilmes Original London cast; 2002; New End TheatreLondon review
, whatsonstage.com *

George Layton George Layton (born 2 March 1943) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series ''Doctor in the House (TV series), Doctor in the House'' and its ...

as Jerzy Lesnewski Original Los Angeles Cast; 2010; Circus Theatricals at the Hayworth Theatre; 2010; directed by

David Trainer David Trainer is an American television director. He is perhaps best known for directing every episode of the Fox sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (except the pilot, which was directed by Terry Hughes) and directed all the episodes of the Netflix sit ...

; produced by Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin *

Jack Stehlin John Anthony Stehlin III (pronounced "Stay-lin"; born July 21, 1966), known as Jack Stehlin, is an American television and theater actor who has played the role of DEA Captain Roy Till on the Showtime television series '' Weeds''. Early life and ...

as Jerzy Lesnewski *

Kristin Malko Kristin Malko (born November 15, 1982) is an American actress who appeared on '' Prison Break''. Early life Malko grew up in Hillsborough Township, New Jersey and graduated from Hillsborough High School in New Jersey, and then Sarah Lawrence ...

as Georgia Fischer *Cameron Meyer as Isabel Parris *Adam Stein as Arthur Bausley *

Jordan Lund Jordan Lund (born May 7, 1957) is an American stage, film and television character actor. Lund was born in Long Island, New York, the son of Miriam ( née Cohen) and Marvin Lund. He received his training as an actor at Carnegie Mellon School ...

as Rysiek Zrupina *Neil Vipond as Harry Frott * Chet Grissom as Brett Pearson

Publication

''More Lies About Jerzy'' is published by

in the collection ''Plays From The Vineyard Theater.

References

External links

{{External links, date=November 2021
New York Times article, January 14, 2001The New American TheatreWriter who fictionalized Holocaust experiences becomes subject of fictional drama
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100724031345/http://www.laweekly.com/events/more-lies-about-jerzy-932156/ More Lies About Jerzy - Hayworth Theatre - Los Angeles - Events Plays by Davey Holmes 2001 plays Biographical plays about writers Off-Broadway plays Jews and Judaism in fiction