Chagrin Valley Little Theatre

Polish Joke by David Ives

Performance Dates & Tickets

About the Play

I'm basically Polish...
so to speak, in exile...

Jasiu Sadlowski takes it to heart when, as a young boy, his Uncle Roman tells him that "Polacks are the punch line of Western Civilization." As he becomes a man, he changes his name and distances himself from his cultural roots. Our hero reinvents himself in a number of ways, but finds it comically hard to navigate job interviews, the priesthood, relationships, shopping, travel... every aspect of his American life. The stereotypical views of Polish, Irish and Jewish people are thrown into a harsh and furiously funny light as Jasiu stumbles through heartbreaking and zany encounters. As the ghosts of his true heritage confront him at every turn, he learns what it really means to be 'a Pole'.

About the Playwright

David Ives, a Polish-American himself, was born in South Chicago and began writing plays while attending Northwestern University. He produced his first play, Canvas, in New York City with the Circle Repertory Company. He later took on a job as an editor of Foreign Affairs and eventually studied drama at Yale University's School of Drama, where he received his MFA. He his known for many successful plays including his hit one-act comedy All in the Timing, as well as Words, Words, Words, Sure Thing, and Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread. His Don Juan in Chicago garnered the Outer Critic's Circle's John Gassner Playwriting Award and a Drama Desk nomination for outstanding play. Ives also received the 1994 George and Elizabeth Martin Playwrighting Award from Young Playwrights Inc, and is the author of two young-adult novels, Monsieur Eek and Scrib. He recently translated Georges Feydeau's classic French farce A Flea In Her Ear and Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play. He has adapted the books of 18 classic musicals for presentation in the City Center Encores! series. David Ives currently lives in New York and teaches at Columbia University.