As Janice Noga retires her beloved character of Janka, she says farewell to a mother-in-law whose tale of perseverance outlives her
By Donald Munro
IÂ don’t know exactly when I crossed the journalistic line with Janice Noga, who will deliver her 180th and final performance playing the title character of “Janka” on Sept. 8 and 9. When the phone rang at my desk back in 2014 in the Fresno Bee newsroom, all I knew was that the woman I met on the other end of the line was an extremely gregarious and persuasive actor determined to get some good publicity for her project. I listened patiently. Years later, Janice would tell me that was one of the things that she appreciated about me: that I let her talk. (And, believe me, Janice can talk. Her family and friends would unanimously concur.) As she told me her story, I found I could sketch out the intriguing outlines of a story: For over a decade, she explained, she had played her mother-in-law, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, on stage. Now she wanted to take the one-woman show, which was created and directed by her husband, Oscar Speace, to Broadway. Or perhaps a little Off-Broadway. Or maybe Off-Off-Off Broadway. She was a dreamer, but she was also realistic.
Oh, and she casually mentioned a tremendous human-interest angle underpinning the entire story: She’d had brain surgery years earlier and for a time completely lost her ability to remember things — and even to speak. Now she wanted to get up on a stage and perform a 90-minute show from memory.
In front of New York critics.
What’s more, she wanted to raise $50,000 from people in Fresno to make it happen as a community event.
Yes, I thought as I listened to her talk at least 20 mph over the speed limit, in typical Janice fashion, she might be a bit bonkers. But a very good kind of bonkers. I could hear, just in the timbre of her voice, that she was someone who makes things happen. She’d gone to Broadway after graduating from Fresno State and gotten stage experience in New York before returning to the Valley. Now she wanted to return one last time.
I’m glad I listened. Little did I realize on that day that “Janka” would become a part of my life. I pitched an idea to my editors: How about I go with Janice to New York and chronicle the experience? I knew a good feature story when I saw one.
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That’s how I found myself on a beautiful May evening on 36th Street in midtown Manhattan in 2015, ready to walk into Janice’s theater dream:
Now, more than 10 years later, I consider Janice a dear friend. That’s why I mention the journalistic line. I crossed it long ago in my appreciation and admiration of this indefatigable woman . I can’t be objective about Janice — and “Janka” — any more. She’s, well, Janice. I admire her determination — and also her generosity for supporting good causes. (The 2nd Space Theatre performances are a fundraiser for eradicating polio.) I admire the story that she and her husband have worked so hard to keep alive.
So when she called a few months back and told me she was going to retire the show, I knew I wanted to close this special circle with her.
To celebrate “Janka’s final performances (which you can read about here), I put together a timeline. It’s a little gift for Janice and Oscar. It walks people through the story of Janka the person and also “Janka” the play.
As I prepared the entries and matched photos (provided by the ever organized Oscar), I relived, in some small way, the stories of both women. “Janka” is based on a letter that the Auschwitz survivor wrote to an uncle just months after she was released from the camp. Her memories are still fresh and raw. They are, as you might imagine, often horrific. Yet it’s also a story of resilience. Janka was strong. She persevered. In some small way, I hope this timeline will persevere, too, in the digital world, keeping a spark of “Janka” — and Janka — with us.
It is easy to put distance to the past. I talk to the college students I teach today about events like 9/11, and it stuns me to think about how most of them weren’t born when it happened. They’ve heard about it, of course, but it’s still a step removed for them. That’s the same for me and the Holocaust. It will forever remain a historical event, tucked away in that great, vast repository of Things That Happened Before Me.
But theater can bridge that gap. “Janka” does for me.
I’ll be there on Tuesday to say goodbye to Janka. But not to the woman who plays her. She’s still going strong. It makes me happy to say that she is my friend.
I invite you to click through the timeline below. Better yet, for an even better online experience, you can enjoy it in a separate browser window by clicking here.
Lanny Larson
Donald: You have perfectly captured Janice — and Oscar, too. The universal importance of “Janka” cannot be overstated. Thankful for sharing your reflections.