Sometimes a story is beautiful enough when told: Autoroute du Soleil by Leen Verheyen demonstrates that

Once upon a time, a very long time ago in a different country from today, there was a play about a boy from Bosnia who made crowds cry. Ad de Bont had not only written a sensitive story with Mirad, a boy from Bosnia, but he also found the perfect way to deliver that story. Constructed from letters to and from a 13-year-old Bosnian refugee, the story was read by two actors, who played his uncle and aunt. The story did its job, acting was hardly necessary anymore.
Since Mirad's success, numerous such storytelling performances have been made. Some with more success than others. The play Autoroute du Soleil by young Flemish playwright Leen Verheyen is among the better ones. We see a band: two guitarists with some effects equipment and two actors. They play/tell the story of a father who kidnaps his little daughter after daddy's day and the mother who stays behind in despair. A road movie about the fleeing father unfolds, with the little daughter always present in the fantasy, but not on screen. It's an interesting choice, which makes you more aware that at least the fleeing, abducting father is more interested in himself, than in his little daughter.
Leen Verheyen chooses to bring the drama to a climax without giving it a clear ending. That works, even if you would prefer a real ending. Simply because then it's more finished, and because a good ending is also a sign of writerly skill. But now she does make the murderous uncertainty that a missing persons case creates for those left behind very palpable. That, in turn, is nice

Autoroute de soleil was shown during Autumn Collection 2010 at Theatre Kikker on Wednesday 27 October.