Digging up dark secrets of the past
AN astonishing story from the Second World War is the subject of a one-man show, The Tailor of Inverness, written and performed by actor and writer, Matthew Zajac.
Edinburgh-based Zajac has turned his late father’s experience of fighting on opposing sides of the war, as well as his dark secret (which we won’t reveal here), into a story that shows the effects of war on individuals and families.
Once revealed, the story had to be told, says Zajac, who adds that there were gaps in his father’s account of what happened to him during the war. But Zajac unearthed his father’s secret and the play is a lot more than an account of a soldier just trying to survive.
Mateusz Zajac grew up on a farm in eastern Poland. He worked as a tailor. During the war, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets and was later freed in an amnesty after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Mateusz was eventually integrated into the British army. In 1948, he was resettled in Britain and ended up in Inverness in Scotland where he worked as a tailor, got married, had a family and was regarded as a pillar of the community.
Matthew Zajac, who knew his father had led an interesting life, felt that one day he would write about it. He recorded his father, interviewing him about his former life. “My father appeared to be quite open. At times, he claimed loss of memory. It was only when I finally got round to visiting his birthplace in 2003 in what is now Ukraine, that I discovered something that stunned me. I met an old woman in the village where my father came from and found out that some aspects of his story weren’t true.”
The truth of the tailor’s life was initially deemed too sensitive to be related to the public. Zajac’s family, particularly his mother, was adamant that the story ought to be kept quiet. “But since the success of the play [it won three awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008], my mother has been quite happy about it.”
Growing up, Zajac had a good relationship with his father. “Like a lot of people who’d been through the trauma of the war, he just looked forward; he didn’t want to look back. As I reached maturity, I became aware that that’s the norm for people who’ve gone through wars.”
As well as the tailor’s secret, his war time activity makes for a gripping story. “I think he fought on both sides. He was certainly in the Soviet army and I’m almost certain he fought for the Germans. He didn’t join the British army until a month after the war finished. It’s not outside the bounds of possibility that he could have been involved in war crimes. I think it’s unlikely; I’d rather think not.”
Zajac, who has a book coming out on his father later in the year, says his story is as pertinent now as it was then. “It applies to the wars in Somalia and Syria.”
The first act of the show is the tailor’s account of his life. “The second act is my discovery of the truth of his life. There’s a lot of projected photographs and video images and maps.” Performing the show makes Zajac feel he’s treading a fine line emotionally. “It can be overwhelming. I’ve really got to control myself.”
The truth, Zajac has discovered, can be stranger than fiction.
*The Tailor of Inverness is at the Ballymaloe Grainstore on Feb 22-23, and the Everyman, Cork, from Feb 25-Mar 2
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