Halina Kwiatkowska's monodrama, "My Great Friend," performed at the Stary Theater in Krakow evokes memories of the actresses long standing friendship with the late Karol Wojtyła, known to the world as Pope John Paul II.

They were both high school students in Wadowice (Halina Królikiewiczówna was the daughter of a high school principle, and he was known as "Lolek"). Both of them studied Polish at the Jagielońskie University in Krakow, both of them took part in poetic performances at the Rapsodic Theater. They also met, when Karol became Pope, during private audiences at the Vatican, in Castel Gandolfo and in Krakow. All of this was the pretext for Halina Kwiatkowska's monodrama, reminiscing about her friendship with Pope John Paul II. The performance also mirrors the actress's book of the same title. Kwiatkowska is amazing insofar as her artistic activities are concerned. She seems very strong for her 85 years, having been acting for the past 65 years. On the stage of the Stary Theater, she plays the role of Mdme. Pernelle in Tartuffe, directed by Mikołaj Grabowski. Lately, in Berlin, she recordede english post-synchronization to a German film about the Auschwitz concentration camps ("And then w