The Talking Car

Agnieszka Polska addresses topics related to the ecological crisis, environmental and humanitarian catastrophes. The Polish artist, awarded with the renowned National Gallery Prize (Berlin), is the author of hallucinogenic and hypnotic artworks, which propose immersive experiences, making us reflect on language, history, science and activate a critical awareness of the social and individual responsibility in a post-truth world.

Under an invitation from BoCA, Polska creates her first theatre piece, “The Talking Car”, with a mixed international cast, including Albano Jerónimo, Iris Cayatte, Vera Mantero and Bartosz Bielenia. On stage, we see a group of people trying to find a way out of a speeding vehicle. They are accompanied by singing, large-scale digital puppets, observing their struggles with tender curiosity. The performers inside the car, on their way to an ever-changing destination, explore a variety of roles, genres and emotional states. Atmospheric, repetitive music and hypnotic background animations enhance the melancholy of this immersive tale: a tale about one’s role in the complex system combining human and nonhuman agents and socio-technological infrastructures.

Text and direction: Agniezska Polska
With: Albano Jerónimo, Bartosz Bielenia, Iris Cayatte, Vera Mantero and Nina Guo
Voice over: Jasmina Polak
Dramaturgy: Olga Drygas
Composition, music: Igor Klaczyski
Light design: Pedro Guimarães
Light technician: Teresa Antunes
Video and sound design: André Teixeira
Digital puppet animator: Jeremy Coubrough
Stage videos animation: Ewa Polska
Head of production: Hugo Alves Caroça
Technical support: Jorge Tejedor
Production: BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts
Co-production: DE SINGEL, Nowy Teatr (Warsaw)