I miss Communism

Moat Theatre, Kildare May 8; Birr Theatre, Co Offaly May 9; Town Hall Theatre, Galway May 11-12; Linenhall Arts Centre, Co Mayo May 13; Friar’s Gate Theatre, Limerick May 15; The Source, Tipperary May 16; Dean Crowe Theatre, Athlone, Co Westmeath May 20; The Village Arts Centre, Cork May 21 www.imiss communism.com

“Naturalized American citizen since 11/04/02,” says the Croatian-born performer Ines Wurth’s biography, with the strict compliance of someone who’s just been asked for her identity papers. In a way, that’s how her intriguing one-woman performance plays out, carrying the vestiges of an old order into a new world.

Co-written with Mark Soper, I Miss Communismis an autobiographical account of Wurth's childhood in Yugoslavia, measuring the competing attitudes between her grandmother and mother, and leading to the culture shock of life in Los Angeles – never exactly a haven of shared property.

We’ve certainly seen plenty of shows remonstrate against the evils of communism and authoritarianism, from the important defiance of the Free Theatre Belarus to the denouncing absurdism of innumerable Polish, Hungarian, East German and Russian productions. But nostalgia for enforced socialism – or, if not for its system, then its culture – is a curious, creeping phenomenon.

“Mother government owns everything,” as Wurth describes life under Tito. “No need to be a grown-up.” Hence the political and personal allure of this unique coming-of-age tale.

CAN’T SEE THAT? CATCH THIS

The Last MileThe Factory Performance Space, Sligo