The Crazy Locomotive
At Resonance 104.4fm, at 21.30 on Sunday night, witness an extraordinary live drama. “The Crazy Locomotive” is due to crash onto the airwaves in a frantic burst of live radio drama. This is a violent comedy that takes place on a speeding train, driven at apocalyptic speeds by two master criminals who are trying to bring about God’s final judgement. Written by Stanislaw Witkiewicz in 1923, itıs an anti futuristic rampage that lampoons the glorification of action, speed and technology. Witkiewicz, or ‘Witkacy’, was a Polish dramatist, painter, philosopher, aesthete and prodigious drug-taker whose work challenged conventions in all art forms and was a precursor of, among other things the Theatre of the Absurd and the Beat Movement. He shot himself shortly after the outbreak of WW2, overcome by the horror of what he knew was about to take place. At the heart of this play are two interlocking elements one is a metaphysical transportation, a yearning for self-knowledge and the mystery of existence the other is a rampantly violent, sexual and destructive physical energy. The two go hand in hand, gripping each other with wide-eyed glee as the throttle is forced open and the Crazy Locomotive thunders down the tracks. This is not radio drama as we know it. Itıs a live experiment involving audio gunpowder, theatrical amphetamines, questionable techniques and dirty tools. Anything could happen. Listening to the live broadcast.