''The Village Bike'' is a 2011 play by

Penelope Skinner Penelope Skinner is a British playwright. Born in 1978, she came to prominence after her play ''Fucked'' was first produced in 2008 at the Old Red Lion Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival to critical acclaim and has had other plays staged in Lon ...

which premiered at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It won the 2011

George Devine Award George Alexander Cassady Devine (20 November 1910 – 20 January 1966) was an English theatrical manager, director, teacher, and actor based in London from the early 1930s until his death. He also worked in TV and film. Early life and education ...

and received rave reviews and had an extended sellout run.

Plot

Becky, a newly-pregnant school teacher, has just moved into the countryside with her husband John. While he no longer has any interest in sex and prefers to read baby books and save the environment, Becky becomes increasingly frustrated and flirts with the plumber Mike. Off work due to the summer holidays and with high rising temperatures, Becky decides to get fit by buying a bike from the local eccentric, Oliver. Despite neighbour Jenny plying the couple with her second-hand baby equipment, Becky finds herself sexually frustrated and desperate for someone to view her as an attractive woman. Soon Becky embarks on a secret affair with Oliver but is determined not to become attached, instead playing out her fantasies from John's old stash of porn films, which she has been driven to watching. With Oliver's wife returning, he insists on ending the affair. Realising how attached she now is, Becky becomes desperate and John more suspicious. After filming herself having sex with Mike, she cycles to see Oliver, but runs into his wife. Leaving in tears she falls off her bike; not badly hurt but emotionally devastated, she takes to her bed. Jenny and John discuss Becky, but, after John finds a stash of plastic bags that Becky has stuffed into a cupboard, he storms upstairs to have her irresponsibility out with her. Terrified that she's been found out, she argues with him, but soon, realising that John is angry about the plastic bags, she gives up, begging him to let things go back to how they were at the start of the holidays.

Premiere

Directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins in 2011 at the

it starred

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai ( ; born 6 August 1982) is a Hong Kong-born British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen, she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include '' Nicholas Nickleby'' (2002), '' ...

as Becky with the rest of the cast made up of Nicholas Burns,

Dominic Rowan Dominic Rowan (born 17 June 1971) is an English television, film and theatre actor. He played CPS prosecutor Jacob Thorne in the ITV crime drama '' Law & Order: UK'' and Tom Mitford in the Channel 4 drama series ''North Square''. Rowan has al ...

Alexandra Gilbreath Alexandra Gilbreath (born 28 March 1969) is an English actress, born in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Life and career Widely known for her work both in film and on television, ...

Phil Cornwell Philip Cornwell is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and is the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band Gorillaz. Cornwell has co-written and performed pri ...

. It was a critical and box office success with the show being extended twice.

Reception

Winning the

in 2011 the play was a critical success, receiving 4 stars in

the Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

with Dominic Cavendish calling it ''mercilessly funny – and savagely insightful ''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Village bike British plays 2011 plays