Dorota Masłowska
TWO POOR ROMANIANS, SPEAKING LT

Having entered the Polish literary elite rather early, twenty-five-year-old Dorota Masłowska has also recently found herself in the theatrical spotlight. Her play "Two poor Romanians speaking Polish", written two years ago, has already been staged in Warsaw, London and Berlin. "Two poor Romanians, speaking LT" directed by Agnius Jankevičius is the first production of the play by Masłowska in the Baltic countries.

It was not Maslowska‘s  dream to debut in the theater. She was convinced to write the play by Grzegorz Jarzyna, the leader of the " Rozmaitosci" theater and one of the most famous contemporary Polish directors. The idea for the play came very naturally – from personal experience: "In winter, my boyfriend and I were traveling to the seaside. We were alone – two poor vagabonds in the windy night. After we’d walked into the only hotel in Jurata for a cup of coffee, my boyfriend spoke to the poshed up barmaid: “Hi, we are two poor Romanians who speak Polish, do you happen to have any leftovers?" The playwright says the fear on the woman’s face was palpable – she didn’t get the joke and was considerably startled by the "Romanian beggars." The play originated from this one sentence.

Having employed the genre of black comedy, Dorota Masłowska not only openly discusses the Poland of today, but she also openly asks – what lies behind the glossy faēade of united Europe? Why the intolerance of its new societies for “lower” nations; why the social disjunction, and acceleration of consumerism, which only lead to alienation and aggression? Looking at the Lithuanian statistics of intolerance of other ethnic groups, (actually, we appear to be the most intolerant of the Roma people), we may bravely state that the play also concerns us. The authors of the Lithuanian theatrical production “Two poor Romanians, speaking LT” inquire – what lies behind the recently so carefully nurtured image of LT?

Director – Agnius Jankevičius
Stage designer – Laura Luišaitytė
Cast – Gediminas Girdvainis, Paulius Tamolė, Agnė Ramanauskaitė, Jolanta Dapkūnaitė, Aldona Vilutytė

Produced by „Audronio Liugos produkcija”

Premiere – March 29, 2009
Duration – 120 min.

Agnius Jankevičius is one of the most productive and interesting directors of the young generation in Lithuania. Having graduated from Lithuania Music and Theatre Academy in 2003 under the guidance of famous Lithuania theatre master Jonas Vaitkus, Jankevičius works as a freelance theatre director, staging classical and modern pieces in various theatres in Kaunas and Vilnius. In 2001 he was awarded a prize in Brno Festival of Theatre Schools for the performance he directed, The Beyond. This year the work he has directed, solo-performance Isadora, has been awarded the highest national performing arts award, Golden Stage Cross.