Polish Joke - Acting Edition

THE STORY: A comedy about ethnic identity and the eternal American search for roots. Jasiu (thirtyish) is a Polish-American who has been taught not to value his own roots, so he decides to make his own roots, reinventing himself first as a sort of non-ethnic everyman, then as an Irishman. Jasiu's adventures-alternately zany and heartbreaking-take him through a job interview with an Ur-Wasp; to an attempt to become a Catholic priest; to a flower shop where he can't get service because he is weirdly invisible; to a doomed love affair with a Jewish woman; to a wacky Irish travel agency where he has to prove that he is Irish before he can buy a ticket; and to a doctor more interested in ethnic pain than in healing. Jasiu is also bedeviled by a reappearing Polish relative and has to face off with the ghost of a dead Polish patriot. In the end, by trying to get away from his ethnic background, Jasiu finds out who he is and what it means to be a Pole.David Ives is the author of 'Polish Joke - Acting Edition', published 2004 under ISBN 9780822219569 and ISBN 0822219565.