„War is us. War is Poland. There would be no Poland without war”. It all starts with innocent childhood games back in the yard. We’re full of war, fed by it at home and at school, from which we graduate already carrying a martyrological burden. Politicians have been creating the community and identity of our nation for a long time, preying on the common belief that Poland is predestined to be „Christ of all nations”. Łukasz Pawłowski scrutinizes the idea of „holy war” as well as the ethos and image of Polish soldier.
– from Gdynia Drama Award website
Pawłowski analyzes the image of Polish war hero, proving that this heroism is no more than a false construct embedded in Polish society’s DNA. His world is populated by zombielike characters straight from a horror movie – saint Maximilian Kolbe, officer Pilecki, Bruce Willis from Armageddon, Kunta Kinte from Roots […] Metro Afghanistan’s final resembles low-budget gore movie, a genre laced with grotesque cruelty, with which Pawłowski plays. I haven’t read many brazen, truly daring and even rebellious plays in a long time. While Poland celebrates its narration of „raising from its knees” and its former heroism, immersed in blood of the perished, „stoning” them to their another death by monuments and memorial sites, such subversive play as Metro Afghanistan seems like a living nightmare for the rulers. I can’t wait for the premiere.
– Jacek Wakar, introductory essay to Polska jest mitem. Nowe dramaty – Polish contemporary drama anthology