Print"A couple of Poor, English Speaking Poles"
1th - 6th March
Progress Theatre at 7.45PM
The Mount, Christchurch Rd.
Reading, RG1 5HL
Tickets: £10 (£8 concession)
A foreigner. Synonyms: stranger, alien, outsider, noncitizen, outlander.
So a foreigner must be someone different, whose roots are somewhere else, therefore cannot really understand the natives. He or she has to be taught what the natives are really all about. But at the same time has to be treated carefully, with caution. Even if a certain word, adjective, today is okay to use when talking / describing a foreigner, tomorrow we might find that it is not pc. In Neverland, for example, never say Neverlander! It is almost like saying Pole!
Speaking of which... Poles, for example. Poles are foreigners. Apparently you should not ask a Pole "How are you" because they might take it literally and start listing all their miseries, medical conditions and problems with untamed husbands and misbehaving wives. One also heard that Poles get really confused with Native's first names. Rumour has it that in Poland all female names end with "a" and all male names end with a consonant. But not "y" as apparently "y" is a vowel in a foreign country of Poland. So how should one classify Christine then...? Ah, and the Teletubbies story! Senior Polish officials have ordered psychologists to investigate if Tinky Winky has a bad influence on children. According to the grapevine, he promotes a homosexual lifestyle, due to carrying a woman's bag and if he does, he should be banned. Strange country this Poland.
"A couple of Poor, Polish Speaking Romanians" is a play deeply set in a reality of small Polish town. The writer, Dorota Maslowska, presents a very accurate picture of Polish society with all their vices, character traits, fears, hopes and dreams.
A couple of Poor, English Speaking Poles is the same story, just set in England, instead of Poland.
Is it possible that the same story fits so well to both, such clearly different countries? And if it does, how is it possible? I'll leave this question to the audience to answer...
Meet Gina, ehm, sorry, Nadine. Nadine is much better stage name than Gina! Or maybe it was Anna Deane or Anadin Extra..?
Nadine and Blighty. They wander near the road, hitching rides whenever they can, trying to find their dream canal boat called Codeine. The people they meet on their journey are inextricably drawn into their contemplation of the absurdity of the world around them. A middle class man just wants his scented pine tree back, a shop assistant on the other hand, the one from the Small Cook, just by the A4, wants his glossy magazine back and if he does not get it, he will have to ask Mr T. to step in, the hedgehog - loving wife just wants someone to talk to and the old geezer finally gets his priest to do the shopping for him. But all Blighty really wants is to get to work on time!
A couple of Poor, English speaking Poles, this is how they introduce themselves. But who are they really?