The Stage

The Stefan Golaszewski Plays

Published Monday 7 December 2009 at 11:50 by Jonathan Lovett

The life and loves of an 18-year-old and his 76-year-old self are effectively brought together in two one-man shows written and performed by Stefan Golaszewski, seen here in a double-bill for the first time.

Stefan Golaszewski at the Bush Theatre Photo: Pete Le May

Both hits over consecutive years at the Edinburgh Festival, 2008’s Stefan Golaszewski Speaks About a Girl He Once Loved is joined by the recent Stefan Golaszewski is a Widower to offer a poignant, funny and utterly engrossing evening from a young star on the rise.

Shading it in terms of sheer enjoyment - perhaps because it’s suggested that this actually happened - is part one, which deliciously details the kind of intense, mind-blowing chance encounter that most of us would be lucky to have had once, thence to haunt us for the rest of our lives.

The moment Betty the bombshell and Stefan tangle eyes over a packet of pork scratchings, he is in love. “If her beauty could be measured in sweets, it would be this,” he says, pulling out a massive jar of multi-coloured sweets - “It’s unsayable”. So begins 24 hours of heartbreaking teenage kicks, containing all the ecstasy and misery of a doomed affair.

Lucky for Betty, if the second half is anything to go by, as Stefan in 2056 looks back on his marriage to “Pudding” - the patronising name for his wife who died two years previously from cancer. Arrogant and materialistic, the star of The Bill for 25 years ends up alone again as he uncomprehendingly looks down at the mass of presents he bought her and mutters: “I loved her… obviously”.

Switching rapidly from tender to tortured, manic to laconic, it’s a charismatic performance from the talented writer, directed with a flourish by Phillip Breen.