Autotherapy

December 19, 2026

Time: 19:00

Venue: Kana Theatre - tickets: 50/40zł I PJM

In 2023, 1,893 people lost their lives as a result of road accidents in Poland. 91 percent of these accidents occurred through the fault of drivers. In the show Autoterapia we want to look at how Polish women and Poles drive. Why do we so often exceed the allowed speed and do not follow the rules of the road? What situations on the road lead us out of balance? What does it mean to be a “good driver”? Are men better drivers than women? What can we do so that so that so many people do not die on the roads and everyone feels safe?

We also want to think about what triggers the fact of owning and using a car in us. How does this affect our sense of worth and our relationships with others? What makes a calm, balanced person behind the wheel turn into a volcano of anger and aggression in a second? What emotions does driving trigger in us? Do we then feel more confident, independent, free? So it will also be a story about us as people and about us as a nation — about our longings, fears, desires and beliefs, unconscious habits and socially inherited patterns. All this with a large dose of perverse humor and in an unobvious theatrical form.

The play won the Jury Prize in the “Amber Ring 2025" Plebiscite for the best performance of the season and in the category of best actor/actress for Bibianna Chimiak. The jury of the competition recognized the performance as “an automotive miracle in Kana”, and appreciated the acting creation of Bibianna Chimiak with the words “for throwing the sixth gear in acting”.

In this show, we not only face the problems of drivers and pedestrians, but we see a whole kaleidoscope of human adversities. The car is a trigger for emotions, beliefs and traumas that might never have found an outlet under other circumstances. We look at ourselves in this spectacle as in a mirror and the sight scares us a little. Is that for sure us? Nice and friendly citizens?”

[Mr. Klimczak]

The four actors show the different consequences of car “addiction” and excess vehicles on roads and parking lots. They create several characters and characters, paying a lot of attention, of course, to the profession of driver, including taxi drivers. The show also features a whole gallery of colorful characters of passengers, who are always preoccupied with something, some remarks and desires.”

[R. Bruch]

“(...) efficient direction by Mateusz Przyłęcki, in which the rhythm of the story is important plus the acting of a four-person team, who found the most delicious bites in the script and created some funny episodes out of them. You look at them with attention, often with a smile (the kind that appears on your face when we think: aaa, I know this, I know it well!)”

[A.D. Liskowacki]

script, direction, scenography, musical preparation: Mateusz Przyłęckicchoreography: Eliza Hołubowska

cast: Bibianna Chimiak, Karolina Sabat, Dariusz Mikuła, Piotr Starzyński

consultations on the animation of the doll: Marta ŁągiewkaMaking the doll: Piotr ŁazińskiConception of lights: Piotr Motas, Mateusz PrzyłęckProduction manager, realization of lights: Piotr MotasSound and multimedia realization: Krzysztof Nowak

realization: Kanapremiera Theatre: 17 January 2025sensitive content: the performance contains scenes of car accidents, profanity and smokeAvailability: AD, SUBTITLES PL, ENG, DECDuration: 90 minutes

the script used texts from: Bartosz Józefiak's book “Everybody drives like that” (Wydawnictwo Czarne 2023), Katarzyna Kozuń — taxi_mama_kasia channel, Tomasz Tosza's column (observerorgospodarczy.pl 31.10.2019), an interview with Tomasz Tosza (Łukasz Pawłowski “Kultura Liberalna”, osci.oneta.net .pl 19.11.2019), works by M. Cieślik, M. Kalwarska, S. Łagan “Biomechanics of collision with a pedestrian and expert examination of a road accident”, work “Road aggression: its conditions and methods of measurement” K. Grunt-Mejer, J. Grunt-Mejer, article “Accidents involving animals” from the portal Światoze.pl and the poem Bogusi (SP no. 3 in Zdzieszowice), as well as interviews with private persons.The Kana Theatre team thanks especially Iza Gawęcka, Agnieszka Zieleziecka, Justyna Zawadzka and Witek Kazanowski for sharing their personal stories. We would also like to thank Bartosz Nowakowski and Andrzej Bonarek for their support in the production of the show.

photo: Marcin Bielecki

the show “AutoTerapia” was qualified for the first stage of the 31st edition of the National Competition for the Exhibition of Polish Contemporary Art.

As part of the “Open Theatre in Cannes” project, the performance is available with audio description, subtitles in Polish and translation into German and English. The project is funded by the City of Szczecin.