By Carrie Chapter, PTC Dramaturg

Why we chose 4000 MILES:

Much of the American theatre’s most memorable work centers on a homecoming. Yet, rather than a family fortune or dinner table skirmish, in Amy Herzog’s 4000 MILES, , the act of coming home arrives by way of a road-weary bicycle and a loss – what is left behind after a distance traveled (4000 miles), and what lies ahead. The play tells the journey of a young man recharging his emotional battery with the help of a trusted power source- his grandmother. 4000 MILES, at Philadelphia Theatre Company, marks the Philadelphia debut of playwright, Amy Herzog. She is an inimitable voice whose ability to write tender yet rich, intelligent family dramas with enormous compassion causes the production runs of her work, over the last few years,  to be extended and re-extended in theatres all over the country. The key to the magnetism of her work is unmistakable. The intimacy of 4000 MILES – its economy with sentiment balanced with a bounty of humor – defines it a play with sincere heart to it. To this end, what the play uncovers is the revelation of community. This is how the solitary path for self-discovery can surprise you with an intergenerational thrust back into the wonder of life itself.

Our PEP (Patron Enrichment Programming) events provided our audience members with some interesting supplements to their theatergoing experience. The PTC Book Club picked Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene, which highlighted the intergenerational follies also seen in 4000 MILES. Playwright Amy Herzog joined guest interviewer, Howard Sherman, onstage post-matinee for a conversation about her career and her inspiration for writing 4000 MILES in particular. PTC also offered a film night featuring the movie, Into the Wild, which relates to the play in its rebellious sense of one man’s need to escape and to find his own adventure. In addition to two talkbacks with the cast, the Special Topics panel discussion hosted three guest panelists who spoke on the joint topics of cross-country cycling and trauma psychology; one of the panelists even identified as both an avid cyclist and Psychology professor. During the Backstage Tour, several patrons were smitten with the realism of the set, asking if they could sleep over! All in all, an energizing and comforting start to the season!