Entitled The Sister of Job and written by Marta Rebzda, the play traces the life of Barbara Sadowska, a Polish poet who was an anticommunist opposition activist in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Sadowska helped fellow members of the Solidarity freedom movement after the imposition of martial law in the country in December 1981. She was interrogated many times by the secret police about her activities.
In May 1983, her only son, Grzegorz Przemyk, then a high school student, was detained by riot police, subjected to severe beatings, and despite undergoing emergency surgery, died in an intensive care unit.
Przemyk's death provoked outrage across Poland, with accusations levelled against the communist regime of murdering him in retaliation for his mother’s activities.
Rebzda’s radio play delves into the anguish Sadowska endured after her son’s death. Overwhelmed by grief, she lost the will to live, eventually succumbing to lung cancer in 1986.
Directed by Waldemar Modestowicz and with music by Piotr Moss, The Sister of Job premiered on Polish Radio in December.
Rebzda has been named among the winners of the Canterbury festival for the third year in a row. Last year, she won the top prize for This Word, about the plight of Polish children deported from the southeastern Zamość region by the Nazi German occupation authorities between 1942 and 1943.
In 2022, she was singled out for praise for Let Me Tell You, a moving portrayal of the way Alzheimer's disease has affected one family's life.
Last month, Rebzda’s This Word claimed the 2024 BBC Audio Drama Award in the Best European Drama category.
(mk/gs)