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Theater 33.3 (2003) 2-19



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Poland's Old and New Masters


The Master and Margarita, directed by Krystian Lupa. Stary Teatr, Krakow, 2001" width="72" height="51" />
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Figure 1
The Master and Margarita, directed by Krystian Lupa. Stary Teatr, Krakow, 2001

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Foundations

The annihilation of Warsaw in 1944 was so total that, in some cases, the survivors simply built over the ruins rather than attempting to clear away the mountains of rubble. An extraordinarily gracious host told me this over a postperformance dinner one evening during my visit to Warsaw and Krakow in November 2002. The front steps of her home lead up to an unusually high ground floor because the debris was too extensive to move, so the builders just set the new foundation over it. We were talking more generally about the old and new Poland, and if I wonder momentarily why she has mentioned this, it soon becomes clear. "The structure is adequate even with such cheap materials," she says of the house and adds in a lower register, "but underneath there is great suffering."

It is easy not to think of what lies underneath the energetic drive of cities like Warsaw and Krakow, with thriving corporate and industrial enterprises now catering to growing classes of cosmopolitan professionals. The country has become adept at selling itself as the Eastern European success story—even, according to a recent report in the New York Times, hiring a chic American image consultant to redesign the national logo to de-emphasize martial icons and convey a lighter and more inviting destination for investors and tourists. Western countries are fond of this success story for their own reasons; in addition to the government's enthusiastic bid for European Union (E.U.) membership, Poland has been one of the few unwaveringly pro-American countries in Europe in recent years, and globalization bodies like to cite its exemplary transformation as well.

Poland finds itself in a rare moment of optimism in its grim modern history, as it sheds the remnants of state communism, unearths aspects of the Nazi occupation, and moves forward with its new neoliberal model. It has finally been able to turn its back to its eastern neighbors and focus its gaze westward. When I arrived, there was a publicly palpable aura of confidence following the E.U.'s decision, only a week or two earlier, to accept Poland as a member nation in 2004 (with ten other countries from the former Soviet bloc). [End Page 3]

Far from being over, however, "the changes," as Poles usually call their post-1989 transformation, continue to disorient. In the U.S. and Western Europe, it is widely assumed that former Soviet countries have moved on; Poland is frequently cited as the model for the region, with a steadily enlarging economy, NATO membership, and embrace of democratic principles. But those old enough to remember life under communism clearly still find themselves in a crisis of values, with consumerism thrust upon them before security or prosperity arrived and without clear political principles to substitute for the ones organized around communism. Young people favoring the changes feel frustrated with the inflexible ways of their elders, whom they see as stuck in another, more bureaucratic and less self-reliant era, slowing the pace of transformation and keeping Poland in the E.U.'s provincial shadows.

But the suffering underneath the foundation is more than just the historical legacy of Holocaust, war, and totalitarianism. Despite their painful but successful economic transition, Poles now face new suspicions about E.U. membership and even about capitalism as they confront harsh recessionary realities. Unemployment stands at the highest levels since communism ended (18 percent); impoverished farmers wonder if they will fare worse under the E.U.; and right-wing nationalist movements have grown (especially in rural areas). Recently, too, word has come that Poles will not be full members of the E.U. club at first; subsidy levels will be lower than proportional—another disappointment. Most of the Poles I met felt that they had no choice...

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