# On the Open Road
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{{Short description|1992 play by Steve Tesich}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox play | name = On the Open Road
| image =
| caption =
| writer = [Steve Tesich](/source/Steve_Tesich)
| characters = Al
Angel
The Monk
The Little Girl
Jesus
Boy
| premiere = March 16, 1992
| place = [The Goodman Theatre](/source/The_Goodman_Theatre)
| orig_lang = English
| setting = An unnamed post-apocalyptic metropolis
| subject = Post-apocalypse
| genre = Drama
}}
'''''On the Open Road''''' is a 1992 [play](/source/Play_(theatre)) by [Steve Tesich](/source/Steve_Tesich).
It is a [post-apocalyptic tale](/source/Apocalyptic_and_post-apocalyptic_fiction) concerning the events after a "[civil war](/source/civil_war)" presumably within the [United States](/source/United_States) although no location is given.[Gerard, Jeremy. Review: On the Open Road by Steve Tesich. February 18, 1993. ''Variety''.] Characters drag wheeled carts filled with meager possessions through a destroyed unnamed wasteland.[Richards, David. "Sunday View: A Post-Industrial Didi and Gogo On the Open Road." February 21, 1993. ''New York Times''.][Smith, Var. Review: On the Open Road. November 5, 2019. ''Backstage''.] There have been numerous productions throughout the U.S.[Sommers, Pamela. "'Open Road': Everyman's Fateful Journey." May 22, 1995. ''The Washington Post''.][Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul. "Penumbra opens a powerful and urgent ''On the Open Road''". 2004. ''Talkin' Broadway''. Retrieved 22 June 2023.]
The play opened on March 16, 1992, at [The Goodman Theatre](/source/The_Goodman_Theatre) in Chicago directed by [Robert Falls](/source/Robert_Falls) featuring [Jordan Charney](/source/Jordan_Charney) as Al and Steve Pickering as Angel.[Williams, Albert. "On the Open Road." March 26, 1992. ''Chicago Reader.'']
==Plot==
The setting of the play is a “place of Civil War”. There are references to [Berthold Brecht](/source/Berthold_Brecht), [Samuel Beckett](/source/Samuel_Beckett), and [burlesque](/source/burlesque).
The play opens in a post-apocalyptic wasteland ravaged by marauding armies. The character Angel is seen standing on a traffic barricade. His head is in a noose and he is gagged. Al, a man pulling a cart, runs into him. The cart contains works of art, renowned artistic creations that have been ransacked and salvaged from devastated art museums. The museums were destroyed by bombs during the apocalyptic war. Angel decides to pull the cart himself in place of Al. For this, he will be freed and Al will teach him art history and musical appreciation along the way. He will pull the cart to the far-off border where these two "independents" will find liberty.
In the second act, Angel and Al are apprehended by the new coalition government. They must assassinate Jesus to obtain their release, who in a Second Coming reappears in human form as a cellist. Jesus is incarcerated in a monastery where he is tortured. A monk meets them and tells them to kill the prisoner forthwith without any delay.
The monk delivers a monologue in which he compares the Second Coming of Christ to the case of a successful contemporary playwright who must now compete with a returned [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare). The monk tells them: Jesus “must die for our art to go on”. The implication is that organized religion is a pale imitation of the real teachings of Christ and Christianity and that this failing contributed to humanity's downfall.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
*[https://variety.com/1993/legit/reviews/on-the-open-road-1200431471 Gerard, Jeremy. Review: ''On the Open Road'' by Steve Tesich. February 18, 1993. ''Variety''. Retrieved 15 June 2023.]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/21/theater/sunday-view-a-post-industrial-didi-and-gogo-on-the-open-road.html Richards, David. "Sunday View: A Post-Industrial Didi and Gogo On the Open Road." February 21, 1993. ''New York Times''. Retrieved 15 June 2023.]
*[https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/open-road-48090/ Smith, Var. Review: ''On the Open Road.'' November 5, 2019. ''Backstage''. Retrieved 15 June 2023.]
*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/05/22/open-road-everymans-fateful-journey/61b47900-5fbc-4530-81e7-48be030916f7/ Sommers, Pamela. "'Open Road': Everyman's Fateful Journey." May 22, 1995. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved 19 June 2023.]
*[https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/on-the-open-road-3/ Williams, Albert. "On the Open Road." March 26, 1992. ''Chicago Reader.'' Retrieved 19 June 2023.]
==External links==
*[http://hilsee.com/OnTheOpenRoad.pdf Online version. ''On the Open Road'' by Steve Tesich.]
{{Authority control}}
Category:Plays by Steve Tesich
Category:American plays
Category:Plays set in the United States
Category:Post-apocalyptic fiction
Category:1992 plays
Category:1990s plays
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [On the Open Road](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Open_Road) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Open_Road?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.