'The Pianist' stage musical world premieres in London

The first stage adaptation of Władysław Szpilman's wartime memoir 'The Pianist' began previews at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, on 15 October 2026, with an official opening scheduled for 22 October and a run through 28 November. Adapted and directed by Thom Southerland, the production uses Szpilman's own compositions and arrangements for the very first time on stage, drawing on music the Polish composer-pianist wrote both before and after surviving the Warsaw Ghetto. Daniel Krikler stars as Szpilman. The show follows his life as a young radio composer in 1930s Warsaw, through the Nazi occupation and his hiding in a ruined apartment where a German officer discovers him at the piano. The world premiere arrives nearly a quarter of a century after Roman Polański's 2002 film adaptation won three Academy Awards. Previews opened to a near-full house, and tickets for the limited six-week run sold rapidly on the back of a sold-out campaign the previous week.