The adventure of two outlaws on an absurd quest to reach the speed of light will be dramatized in the School of Drama's last production of this millennium, a play that depicts the intrusion of the machine into human life.

The play, "The Crazy Locomotive," was written by Polish playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, a radical critic of bourgeois society, and was translated by Daniel Gerould. It will be performed Dec. 9-15 at the University Theatre, 222 York St., under the direction of School of Drama student Annie Dorsen.

"'The Crazy Locomotive' is unique among Witkiewicz' dramas in that it confronts the challenge of mechanization directly," Gerould once said of the work. "He puts the machine on stage, turns it on, and lets us see where it will lead us. He creates a play that has all the metallic brilliance and frantic speed which he is mocking."

The play centers around two outlaws, Tréfaldi and Travaillac, who disguise themselves as a locomotive engineer and fireman and engage in a frantic attempt to reach the speed of light. Their ride along the rails turns inward and becomes a metaphysical adventure in search of the absolute. The passengers aboard the train wish to escape from the confines of everyday life and the monotony of existence to find life's meaning in the thrill of a speeding locomotive.

Witkiewicz, who was born in Warsaw, was also a painter, photographer, novelist, art critic, philosopher and novelist. Some have credited him with founding the Theatre of the Absurd long before the more well known absurdist playwrights Ionesco, Genet and Beckett came onto the scene.

According to Dorsen, the playwright's work is a profound and courageous attempt to understand the world through the drive for ever more extreme physical experience.

"I am fascinated by the mixture of hilarity and tragedy in the play, the anarchic blend of the outrageous and the mundane," the drama student says. "Witkiewicz's imaginative world has never resembled the real world more than now, at the end of the most exuberant, violent and transformative century of our history."

Prior to attending the School of Drama, Dorsen worked at McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, and directed in and around New York. Her recent work includes "Kind Ness" by Ping Chong, Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," the first-ever stage production of "Grease 2" and "Christie in Love" by Howard Brenton. Last summer, she worked at The International Theatre-Akademie Ruhr in Germany.

The cast of "The Crazy Locomotive" is composed of students from the School of Drama. In the role of Tréfaldi is Remy Auberjonois; portraying Travaillac is Edward O'Brien. They will be joined on stage by Lael Logan in the role of Julia, Kate Nowlin as Sophia and Geraldine Guo as Jeanne. The four passengers will be played by Regina Hilliard Bain, Kathryn Hahn, Robert Devaney and Mark Mattek.

The design team for the production includes Ted Pierce (sets), Tammy McBride (costumes), Paul Whitaker (lighting), Brian Patton (sound), Kate Howard (video) and Katherine Spencer (dramaturg).

Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 9-11, and Tuesday and Wednesday, December 14 and 15. On Monday, Dec. 13, the show will begin at
7 p.m. There is no performance on Sunday, Dec. 12. Ticket prices range from $12 to $15, with discounts available for students, senior citizens and groups of 10 or more.

For information, call the Yale Repertory Theatre box office at (203) 432-1234. Box office hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, and until show time on performance days.

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