Road, the first play written by British playwright Jim Cartwright, which debuted in 1986, explores the lives of the people in a deprived, working class area during a time of high unemployment. If the plot sounds eerily similar to life in America in 2009, that is exactly how Curio Theatre director Gay Carducci is hoping audiences will react.

Carducci and the company have received permission from the playwright to slightly alter the play. Co-artistic director Jared Reed credits "our really great dramaturg, Mike Durkin" who emailed Cartwright's agent to ask permission for the Curio company to set the play in West Philadelphia and change the British expressions to American slang. The Curio Company was thrilled when the permission was granted and the agent replied, "as you rightly say the play can and is often set in the location of where it's performed...Jim [the playwright] is quite happy for companies to make these slight changes."

Despite the play's extremely effective portrait of the desperation of people's lives, the script also contains a great deal of humour, as director Carducci is quick to point out.

Carducci says, "I have loved this play since I first saw it many years ago at The Wilma Theatre. Even then I thought about how the play depicts the despair and pain of poverty, not only in a small town in England, but in many areas all over the world. We chose to put this play in our fourth season long before the huge loss of employment hit America. After that happened I thought how appropriate it seemed to place this play right here in our own little corner of the universe. Translating the strong Lancashire slang seemed daunting at first but with the help of Aetna Gallagher and then the rest of the cast we made it work. Approaching the play in this way really has made it a true company project. We are all walking this Road together as one," she added.

Carducci's cast will Newton Buchanan as Scullery Paul Kuhn, Ken Opdenaker, Delante Keys, Aetna Gallagher, Chelsea Bulack and Erika Hicks in multiple roles.

Road won the Samuel Beckett Award, Drama Magazine's Best New Play Award, and was joint winner of the Plays And Players Award and The George Devine Award.

In 1988, Road was produced by The Lincoln Center, New York, and is now considered a modern classic. Curio Theatre will stage Road March 12-April 4 in the Sanctuary of Calvary Church at 815 South 48th St., Phila.

Performances are 7 p.m. Thursdays and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Opening night, March 13, includes a post-show complimentary party.

Visit www.curiotheatre.org for more information or call 215-525-1350 for reservations.