PERFORMANCE „AUTOSTRADA“

PERFORMANCE „AUTOSTRADA“
Theatre: Aleksander Węgierko Drama Theatre in Białystok
Author: Michael McKeever
Runtime: 80 min.
Age rating: 16+

Charlie Cox is over forty, works a boring job, lives an uninteresting life and, as it unexpectedly turns out, suffers from an incurable illness. On top of that, a hitchhiker named Wally, whom Charlie picks up on the highway, declares that he is Charlie's Death, and intends to keep reminding him of that.

After all that, in the middle of the desert and in exhausting heat, Charlie's car breaks down, and his mobile phone stops working. Could it get any worse? Of course! At an abandoned little hotel standing in the middle of a road to nowhere, Charlie meets the woman of his life, Blind Love, and a jealous car mechanic.

His life begins to change, but Wally – Death and his travelling companion – has no intention of giving up so easily.

„Autostrada“ is a bright, and at times very funny, story about love, death and living life to the fullest. The performance is reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's „The Seventh Seal“ and the best of Woody Allen's films.

The play's world premiere took place in 2003. Its author, Michael McKeever, is one of the most prominent contemporary American playwrights.

In Poland, his play „Postcards from Europe“ was directed by Krystyna Janda at Warsaw's Och-Teatr, and „Hotel Manoeuvres“ was directed by Mirosław Bieliński (Żeromski Theatre in Kielce) and Marcin Sławiński (New Theatre in Zabrze). In June 2017, the Polish premiere of McKeever's play „Season's Greetings“ took place at Warsaw's Kwadrat theatre, with Ewa Kasprzyk and Daniel Olbrychski in the leading roles.

„Autostrada“ (Running With Scissors), directed by Andrzej Mastalerz, is the first staging of this play in Poland.

Creative team:
Author: Michael McKeever
Translator: Bogusława Plisz-Góral
Director: Andrzej Mastalerz
Set design and costumes: Joanna Walisiak
Music: Patryk Ołdziejewski
Stage manager: Karolina Bielawska
Cast: Katarzyna Siergiej, Monika Zaborska, Bernard Bania, Marek Cichucki, Sławomir Popławski