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POSTED: 10 AUGUST 2009

A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians, by Dorota Maslowska

(New Theatre, Newtown, Sydney | The play is part of New Theatre's New Directions 2009 program, which runs until 15 August)

Unbelievably, this play — written by Polish novelist and playwright Dorota Maslowska — came about from an actual experience. Maslowska and her then-boyfriend pretended to be poor, Polish-speaking Romanians while trying to scrounge food from a waitress at a seaside hotel (she doesn’t mention whether it worked).

Why Romanians? Maslowska explains it as a character trait of her homeland ... to define oneself against an “other”, someone against whom one can seem better off, superior, and more normal. I’d argue that this is scarcely confined to Poland ... just watch what happens around State of Origin time.

New Theatre’s New Directions 2009 program boasts an impressive five plays over four weeks. It is the opportunity for audiences to catch a glimpse of some exciting contemporary writing from around the world. Unfortunately the run is almost over, and even more unfortunately ACOPPSR (please excuse the acronym, but typing the title is a pain!) only ran from 5-8 August.

Hopefully ACOPPSR will be given a longer season at some time in the future. It is a fresh, frenetic production that pulls you along the full gamut of emotion. At times hysterically funny, at others bleak and disturbing, director Alice Livingstone has assembled a strong cast that seemed to be enjoying the show as much as the audience.

Some minor editing would have helped keep the pace cracking along just that bit more, but this was not enough to detract from the overall quality of this production.

Especially outstanding was Neil Phipps as Parcha, the actor who finds himself in the midst of the deception. His energetic and hilarious performance, firstly as the manic Polish-speaking Romanian, then as the frantic actor, was marvellous. Mairead Berne as Dzina complemented Phipps wonderfully, with full marks for the hair and make-up — and teeth!

If the last play in the season, Mrs Petrov’s Shoe, is anything as good as A Couple of Poor, Polish-Speaking Romanians, I’d suggest you go along from 12–15 August and check it out.