Poland: Too Many Laughs

The only things that Moscow sends us are jackasses, idiots and spies.

—Line from the Polish classic Dziady

Though Dziady, written by Poet Adam Mickiewicz in 1832, has long been a staple of study in nearly every Polish high school, its appearance on the Warsaw stage a few weeks ago caused an uproar. When audiences laughed too loudly at the anti-Russian lines, the government's censors closed down the whole production. In recent weeks they have also closed two other plays and kept from circulation the most promising Polish movie of the year, a surrealistic comedy on politics called Hands Up. Also...

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