Our Class at Z Space

 On Saturday, March 28, 2026, Inna and I saw the play "Our Class" at Z Space in San Francisco. Here is what ChatGPT has to say about the play:

Our Class is a powerful and disturbing contemporary play that explores memory, identity, and violence in 20th-century Eastern Europe.

What it’s about

The story follows ten classmates—five Jewish and five Catholic Polish— from the same school, tracing their lives from childhood in the 1920s through World War II and into the late 20th century. What begins as an ordinary shared upbringing slowly fractures under the pressures of war, occupation, and rising antisemitism.

Historical backdrop

The play is inspired by real events, particularly the Jedwabne massacre, in which Jewish residents were murdered—shockingly, with participation from their non-Jewish neighbors. The play doesn’t just recount history; it examines how ordinary people can become complicit in atrocities.

Themes

• Friendship vs. betrayal – childhood bonds collapse under ideology and fear
• Memory and guilt – how people remember (or distort) the past
• Identity – religious and national identities become life-or-death divisions
• Moral responsibility – who is to blame, and how history judges them

Style

The play is often staged minimally, with actors narrating their own lives directly to the audience. This creates a stark, almost documentary feel, making the emotional impact more immediate.

Why it’s significant

“Our Class” is widely regarded as one of the most important modern European plays because it forces audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature and history—not just what happened, but how and why it happened.

 

 Simple Plot Summary (Act-by-Act Style)

The play is structured as a series of “lessons” rather than traditional acts.

Early Lessons (Childhood – 1920s/30s)

• Ten classmates (Jewish and Catholic Polish) grow up together.
• They joke, flirt, argue—basically normal kids.
• Subtle tensions already exist (religion, stereotypes), but nothing extreme yet.

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Middle Lessons (WWII – 1940s)

• Everything changes with war and occupation (first Soviet, then Nazi).
• Power shifts—some classmates gain authority, others lose everything.
• Antisemitism intensifies.

👉 The turning point is the massacre inspired by the Jedwabne massacre:

• Jewish classmates are brutally attacked.
• Some of their former friends participate or stand by.
• This is the emotional and moral core of the play.

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Later Lessons (Postwar – 1950s–2000s)

• Survivors deal with guilt, denial, or justification.
• Some emigrate, some reinvent themselves, some cling to lies.
• The past never really goes away.
• The play ends with reflection: memory is incomplete, uncomfortable, and contested.

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👥 Main Characters (Simplified)

You don’t always need to memorize all 10, but here are key ones:

• Zygmunt – Becomes violent and opportunistic
• Rysiek – Aggressive, openly antisemitic
• Władek – More passive, conflicted
• Abram – Jewish classmate, thoughtful, becomes a victim of events
• Menachem – Jewish survivor who emigrates

👉 The characters represent types of human behavior:

• perpetrators
• victims
• bystanders
• survivors

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💡 Key Themes (Explained Simply)

1. Ordinary people can do terrible things

These aren’t monsters—they’re classmates. That’s what makes it disturbing.

2. Peer pressure & power

People act differently when they feel powerful—or afraid.

3. Memory is unreliable

Characters rewrite their past to avoid guilt.

4. Friendship isn’t always stronger than hatred

Childhood bonds collapse under social and political pressure. 

Our Class Review 

Highlights

• The play is very unconventional and has creative uses of the blackboard

Lowlights

• It was difficult to understand each time period, as there was minimal context provided. It would have been very helpful to understand the year of each lesson and the major issues
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