Talk:Elżbieta Czyżewska

message: Some sources cite May 14, 1938 as her date of birth. But Find a Grave and her obituary in the New York Times indicate April 14, 1938. Which is correct?
Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 23:08, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Date of birth

message: I can’t just be imagining it, because I saw the play in New York in the mid- or late-1980s: an off-Broadway production of an original play, by a very clever new playright (whose name I cannot now recall), written and performed in English, called (I’m almost certain, but I doubt even my own memory Of late) “Killing Cockroaches”. The gist of this comedy, set in New York but very much written in a Cold War context, a world of East-West cultural exiles, was this: a very grand Polish actress, a specialist in Shakespeare, is living in a small apartment with her American husband/partner—and finding it very difficult to find rôles in America commensurate to her talent (or for thst matter, any rôles at all) due to her comically-thick Polish accent. The play opens on her performing (home, alone, for no audience but herself) the famous “Out, Damn Spot!” scene from Macbeth, with such gravity and seriousness, offset by the ridiculous unintended meanings conveyed by her mispronunciation, that the audience is immediately won over to a brilliant comic conceit... soon after this scene, a friend comes over unexpectedly to the apartment, and as they are too poor to afford drink, notwitstanding that her hospitality instincts are culturally hard-wired, the Polish actress offers the guest a sleeping pill... He subsequently passes out on their couch, and several scenes are conducted while he is unconscious. 
Does any of this ring a bell? For anyone?!?
Only many years later, in the course of research on the poet James Merrill and the teleplay he made with partner Peter Hooten of The Changing Light at Sandover, did I become familiar with Elżbieta Czyżewska’s life story (though I knew several of her Polish movies, notably The Saragossa Manuscript, a masterpiece of he ear) and realized, in hindsight, this play was almost certainly inspired by Elżbieta. But I’ve been unable to verify that, and can’t even find a record of “Killing Cockroaches” productions online, the original production, wjich I saw, being a creature of the pre-Internet era and apparently never revived, although it is well worthy of that I’m confident in saying. (And Peter Hooten, a one-time phone-friend of mine who kept up with EC until her death, had no knowledge whatsoever of this tribute play and—sadly—did not have the opportunity to ask EC before her death, as she was already ailing... which also begs the question, did Elżbieta even know, during her lifetime, her life had inspired an American play? Who would even know that now, after... after so many years?)
Anyone who might have knowledge about “Killing Cockroaches”, which is etched in my memory for all sorts of reasons, feel free to reply here or on my Talk page. “KC” is definitely one of those works for rhe revivsl dramaturges to consider... as I said, I can’t just bw imagining it, I saw it.... 
Vesuvius Dogg (talk) 20:50, 12 April 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Inspiration for “Killing Cockroaches”?