Poster for the play

 

In this one-woman travelogue, on a snowy Easter Sunday, Hunken embarks on a bicycle journey across Poland in search of the man who haunts her, a man of power, genius, fame and violence - her grandfather, Leonidas Dudarew-Ossetynski. Resolving to hunt down the mystery of this enigmatic character, Hunken sets off to understand the demon that still haunts her family.

With an old address book, the spirit of Grotowski and the hard lessons of punk rock anarchists to guide her, she reveals a story of exile, love and justice spanning three generations of a family's survival. She squats with anarchist punks in old factories, barely escapes a knifing by Neo-Nazis, hides in churches and encounters a strange and amazing cast of characters: a sardonic filmmaker, Peer Gynt, the ghost of a beautiful, Norwegian bride, a clairvoyant, possessed dominatrix, and in the climax, Rena Mirecka, one of the last original members of Jerzy Grotowski's theater company who leads Hunken in a para-theatrical workshop guiding her into the wilderness of her mind, into the darkness of her past where she must face her family demons once and for all. 

The Wild Finish is one of the most exciting theater pieces I've seen in years. If you want to know where theater can take you, get on Monica's bike. 
- Stephen Wangh, author of "An Acrobat of the Heart: A Physical Approach to Acting Inspired by the Work of Jerzy Grotowski"; Arts Professor (ret), NYU; Adjunct Faculty, Naropa University

Monica Hunken, one of the eminent actresses of our time, has created a play about her grandfather that is both autobiographical and innovative. An extraordinary artist, she is able to use her body and her voice - in fact several voices - to expand the theatrical vocabulary so that the spectator rides the myriad aspects of an extraordinary life - The Wild Finish, through the physical and spiritual rigor of one multi-faceted actress.
-Judith Malina, Founder of The Living Theatre

Hunken is a monologist to be watched. This is solo performance at its very best.
-NYTheatre.com

"The Wild Finish" was originally produced in Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival and was chosen for the Amsterdam Fringe Festival in September 2011.

Monica Hunken is a solo performer who creates docu-adventure shows from her international voyages seeking out stories of foreign cultures and her own family history. Her first play, Reading the Water, produced at HERE Arts Center selected for the American Living Room Festival, explores the mysterious death of her scientist father and illuminates the dangerous conditions at his laboratory. Blondie of Arabia, produced at The Living Theatre, relays the tale of Hunken's solo bike ride across three countries in the Middle East. It won first place, the Audience Award, at the Apostrof Festival in Prague and was selected for the Theater of Change Festival in Athens, Greece, Sibiu International Theater Festival in Romania, and De Parade Festival in the Netherlands.

Hunken earned her BFA in Drama from the Experimental Theatre Wing and MA in Educational Theatre at NYU and has since taught in Thailand, Greece, India, trained in Amsterdam, Poland and Ireland, worked with the bicycle advocacy group - Time's-Up! and is Action Captain for Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. Hunken has performed with Les Freres Corbusier, International WOW, Not Man Apart Physical Theater Company and is a member of The Living Theatre Company.

"The Wild Finish", written and performed by Monica Hunken. Directed by Melissa Chambers; sound by Xana Chambers and Benjamin Cerf; lights by Evan True; Technical Direction by Evan True. Produced by The Polish Cultural Institute and Culture Project. Originally Produced as a workshop by Culture Project, Women Center Stage Festival At The Living Theatre. 60 minutes, no intermission.

The performance runs from the 25th of January 2012 - 11th of February 2012 at the ABC NO RIO Theatre in New York City.

For more information on the artist and performace see: www.monicahunken.com

ABC NO RIO
156 Rivington Street
NYC, New York 

Source: Polish Cultural Institute New York

Photos sourced from www.monicahunken.com