Baloneyland: Peter Conrad Enjoys a Stingingly Up-to-Date Satire Marking Poland's Admission to the EU

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In Poland, parcelled up between Russia, Prussia and Austria from 1772 to 1914, patriotism was a love that dared not speak its name. At least it could not do so in words; music, however, made a more elliptical protest against oppression. The liltingly insidious dance rhythms in Stanislaw Moniuszko's The Haunted Manor--performed by Polish National Opera during its visit to Sadler's Wells last month--tweak the political conscience of two decommissioned soldiers. After two performances in 1865, it was banned for 50 years by the Russian censors.

The responsibility of resistance devolves on an ineffectual prince in Krzysztof Penderecki's Ubu Rex, the highlight of the Sadler's Wells visit. The Polish king is murdered at a military parade by the oafish upstart Ubu …