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Poland, 1949. Zula is bold and brilliant, a singer who ignites the stage. Wiktor is withdrawn and damaged, a composer longing to write. Irresistibly drawn to each other, they dream of escape. But in Communist-controlled Poland, the desire for freedom can be a dangerous thing.
Based on the film by Academy Award winner Pawel Pawlikowski,
Cold War is an epic love story spanning the decades and breadth of Europe at its most divided, and a compelling story of passion, redemption, and the journey to be free.
This stage adaptation by Conor McPherson was first performed at the Almeida Theatre, London, in November 2023, directed by Rupert Goold, and featuring traditional Polish songs alongside music by Elvis Costello.
About the author
Conor McPherson is a playwright, screenwriter and director, born in Dublin in 1971.
His plays include: Rum and Vodka (Fly by Night Theatre Co., Dublin); The Good Thief (Dublin Theatre Festival; Stewart Parker Award); This Lime Tree Bower (Fly by Night Theatre Co. and Bush Theatre, London; Meyer-Whitworth Award); St Nicholas (Bush Theatre and Primary Stages, New York); The Weir (Royal Court, London, Duke of York's, West End and Walter Kerr Theatre, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics' Circle, George Devine Awards); Dublin Carol (Royal Court and Atlantic Theater, New York); Port Authority (Ambassadors Theatre, West End, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Atlantic Theater, New York); Shining City (Royal Court, Gate Theatre, Dublin and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York; Tony Award nomination for Best Play); The Seafarer (National Theatre, London, Abbey Theatre, Dublin and Booth Theater, New York; Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, Tony Award nominations for Best Play); The Veil (National Theatre); The Night Alive (Donmar Warehouse, London and Atlantic Theater, New York); Girl from the North Country (Old Vic, London) and The Brightening Air (Old Vic, London, 2025).
Theatre adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's The Birds (Gate Theatre, Dublin and Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis), August Strindberg's The Dance of Death (Donmar at Trafalgar Studios), Franz Xaver Kroetz's The Nest (Young Vic, London), Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (West End, 2020) and Paweł Pawlikowski's Cold War (Almeida Theatre, 2023).
Work for the cinema includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame, The Actors, The Eclipse and Strangers.
His work for television includes an adaptation of John Banville's Elegy for April for the BBC, and the original television drama Paula for BBC2.
Awards for his screenwriting include three Best Screenplay Awards from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Best Screenplay Award; the CICAE Award for Best Film Berlin Film festival; Jury Prize San Sebastian Film Festival; and the Méliès d’Argent Award for Best European Film.
Paweł Pawlikowski is a Polish-born filmmaker living in Britain. His films include: Last Resort (2000), My Summer of Love (2004), Ida (2013) which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Cold War (2018), for which Pawlikowski won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.
Summary
An epic love story spanning the decades and breadth of Europe at its most divided, adapted from the Academy Award-nominated film. Premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in 2023.
