The Last Escape

The William J. Cooper Foundation and the Lang Performing Arts Center present the Wroclaw Puppet Theatre of Poland's The Last Escape (Ostatnia Ucieczka). A pensioner named Josef, trying to escape his isolation, discovers a corner of his room where the normal laws of time and space don't apply. His trips back into his mythical childhood memories and dreams are presented in a fantastical and sometimes explosive manner. The Last Escape (Ostatnia Ucieczka) has won accolades throughout Europe since its premier in fall 2004.

The production is based on the works of Bruno Schulz, an avant-garde Polish writer and artist of the 1930s and '40s, who was senselessly gunned down by a German officer during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Although influenced by Kafka, Schulz tends to mix surrealistic humor with realistic details, giving his work more of a sense of everyday life. Schulz says, "...for no word, no allusion, can adequately suggest the shiver of fear, the presentiment of a thing without name, that exceeds all our capacity for wonder." Schulz is best known for his collection of short stories The Street of Crocodiles.

Location: Pearson-Hall Theatre
Date: October 28, 2006
Times: Saturday, October 28, 8pm

The residency will include the following workshops:

Friday, October 27, 1pm, Frear Ensemble Theatre, LPAC
Puppet Design Class with Wroclaw Puppet Theatre of Poland

Saturday, October 28, 11am, Frear Ensemble Theatre, LPAC
Puppet Performance Workshop with Wroclaw Puppet Theatre of Poland

Sunday, October 29, 1pm, Pearson-Hall Theatre, LPAC

Puppet Theater directing class led by Aleksander Maksymiak, artistic director of Wroclawski Teatr Lalek and director of The Last Escape (Ostatnia Ucieczka)