"Loose Screws" and Other Polish Plays

An unprecedented anthology of contemporary Polish drama, "Loose Screws" brings together nine previously un-translated plays by prominent playwrights who have emerged in rapidly changing postcommunist landscapes. The plays expose ways in which individual and social violence impinge upon one another, disrupt notions of a monolithic Polish identity, and try to find meaning within the post-9/11 global context. This comprehensive collection offers an account of Polish history and politics though plays that range in subject from communism to mental illness, criminal and social violence, and working-class life and globalization. Serving as the cornerstone for the collection, Malgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk's "Loose Screws" examines the ways in which various psychopathologies play themselves out in the private and public spheres in postcommunist Poland. The anthology includes a substantive introduction that situates each play within its historical, political, and theatrical context.