ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the very cultural symbols upon which Communist party rule is based–Marxist ideology, the ideals of socialism, and the promise of a Communist Utopia–also temper Party control of cultural life. Party propaganda at all points identifies true Marxism with the official Party position; the Party is always pictured as the leading agent of social change along Marxist lines. The central values of the Party become for intellectuals a potential basis for critical judgment of the nature of social reality. Particularly in the art forms of literature and theater, claims of the advanced nature of Party prescribed culture have come under critical scrutiny as have the inadequacies of Party performance in general. The play takes the audience through the events leading to the Communist victory: liberation of Polish territory by the Red government dominated by the Communist Workers' Party, and the liquidation of all coalition foes.
