BLAME TRAFFIC by Michael Andrew Collins opens at The Old 505 in two weeks

Lilian was cut off everyday after work by the same Mercedes and had finally worked up the courage to follow the car home and vent her rage over the driver; Jacquie believed that she was personally responsible for most of the car crashes in Sydney; a mechanic had just told Zio Tony that his car couldn't be fixed and so he needed a plan; Dion needed a driving lesson; Gabriel's brother, Radu, was missing.

Sara could learn these facts, and maybe she could piece them together into a story that means more to her, to her friend Lilian, and to the insurance company they both worked for.

She could learn these things, and maybe they would help, or maybe she'd find that the best story doesn't necessarily care about the facts.

To find out, she just has to follow the blame...

In the aftermath of a car crash, Blame Traffic asks us to consider the randomness of the world around us, the risks we take, the impacts we have on others that we'll never see, and how we might all be connected.

Running for two weeks only from November 13, Blame Traffic follows seven characters through a series of catastrophic coincidences, as they navigate the streets of Sydney.

"We are exposed to so much chance every day," says writer and director, Michael Andrew Collins. "We are at the mercy of so much randomness-the randomness of other people, biology, fate, the NSW transport system... In Blame Traffic characters are confronted with this randomness and asked to make meaning from it."

Michael Andrew Collins is an emerging playwright whose play, Impending Everyone (commissioned by ATYP), was performed at the SBW Stables Theatre earlier this year. This exciting young writer has been nominated for STC's Patrick White Award, the Griffin Award, and Subtlenuance's Silver Gull Play Award in Sydney, as well as a variety of other writing awards from around Australia.

His latest work, Blame Traffic, is about people's attempts to understand what really happened, the story they will tell themselves about what happened, and whether it matters if it is the "right" story.

"I hope this play can also point us towards the thousands of stories, lives, and random data all around us, that exist and affect us, but which we probably never think about, unless we are forced, also, to make meaning of them," says Collins.

twenty seven six will present Blame Traffic's premiere season at The Old 505 Theatre in Newtown, bringing together a cast of five performers whose diversity of culture and perspective will bring to life this very Sydney story.

"I'm so excited to be working on this excellent new Australian play alongside such outstanding emerging artists," says performer, Mary Soudi. "Michael has written a captivating story with vibrant characters that reflect Sydney's diversity."

Catch this local and emerging writer's newest work about bending the rules, changing the odds, and taming the randomness of the universe at The Old 505 theatre this November.

"I am incredibly excited to be premiering this play with this team in Sydney," says Collins, "and I can't wait to bring it to the stage."

What: Blame Traffic by Michael Andrew Collins
Venue: The Old 505, Newtown
Dates: 13th - 24th November
Times: 8 pm
Bookings: https://old505theatre.com/shows/blame-traffic-1510972064.html

Written and Directed by Michael Andrew Collins
Designed by Patrick James Howe
Sound by Charles Wu
Produced by twenty seven six
With Violette Ayad, Nic English, Emma O'Sullivan, Mary Soudi and Alex Stylianou
Photography by Jasmin Simmons