Currently playing at the Old Fitz Theatre until 8 July, Cross Pollinate Productions in association with Red Line Productions presents the Sydney premiere of The Village Bike by Penelope Skinner.
Becky is pregnant and frustrated. Her husband is more interested in the baby manual than her new underwear so she turns to the porn stash under the bed. As the summer heats up, a brief encounter sends her speeding downhill towards reckless abandon.
Provocative, hilarious and absolutely crucial, Rachel Chant (Leaves, When the Rain Stops Falling) directs a brilliant cast including Gabrielle Scawthorn (Ride and Fourplay, Hurt), Benedict Wall (Home and Away, You Will Not Play Wagner), Sophie Gregg (Deathtrap, Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door), Rupert Reid (Blue Heelers, Julius Caesar), Kate Bookallil (Closer, The Letdown) and Jamie Oxenbould (The Literati, Dapto Chaser) in the Sydney premiere of this darkly comic twist on presumptions about sexuality and pornography.
From the brilliant mind of playwright Penelope Skinner, The Village Bike played a sell-out run at the Royal Court where it received rave reviews and was twice extended. The play won the 2011 George Devine Award, the Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright at the 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards and was nominated at the 2012 Olivier Awards for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
Skinner’s other plays include F*cked, first performed at the Old Red Lion, London, in 2008; Eigengrau in 2010; and The Sound of Heavy Rain. Her latest play, Linda opened at the Royal Court Theatre in December 2015, and recently played the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York.
“Skinner writes wittily and well about women. She overturns all the stereotypes about staid schoolteachers and expectant mums, and creates in Becky a living, breathing, highly passionate woman.” – The Guardian
Director: Rachel Chant Featuring: Kate Bookallil, Sophie Gregg, Jamie Oxenbould, Rupert Reid, Gabrielle Scawthorn, Benedict Wall Production Design: Anna Gardiner and Martelle Hunt Sound Design and Composition: Nate Edmonson Lighting Design: Hartley Kemp Stage Management: Lillian Hannah U Production Management: Shell McKenzie Assistant Director: Joel Horwood Accent/Dialect Coaching: Linda Nicholls-Gidley
The Village Bike
Old Fitz Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo
Season continues to 8 July 2017
Information and Bookings: www.redlineproductions.com.au
Image: Gabrielle Scawthorn – photo by John Marmaras