My performance will revolve heavily around one of our key pieces of set, the bike. The bike is used within our performance to take the audience into the main protagonist’s mind. This is achieved once I get on the bike and begin to peddle. As a company, we are hoping for a two-hour performance in which the set becomes an installation piece, where the audience may walk around an observe the main protagonists mind being created. Once this is achieved, the performance will begin immediately after. In the overall performance, I will be required to pedal for around forty minutes. Due to the heat of the lights and the short bursts of pace throughout, exhaustion will begin to takeover my body. Frantic Assembly, a renowned physical theatre company created a performance called Klub where they looked at the concept of exhaustion in their last scene. The company summarised it as a “physical sequence that played with both the notion and the practice of exhaustion. This came from observations and experiences in clubs where the levels of physical energy and endurance- all in the name of a good time- seemed both inspirational and extreme” (Graham and Hoggett, 2012, p.75). This links back to the bike, where individuals gain pleasure from the activity, yet some people take it to the extreme on how fast or how far they pedal. Throughout the performance the speed on the bike will vary due to the action on stage. In a part of high tension, the pedal will become a short sharp burst of pace. Therefore, because of the length of time I shall be biking it is imperative to control my diet and become fitter physically.

Above is a video of myself in the gym preparing for my performance role. I have created a ten-week high intensity programme which will help me to complete the challenge which lies ahead. Nancy Bishop believes “Being physically fit is important. It’s part of keeping the instrument tuned. Acting is physical” (Bishop, 2015, p.55). Therefore, it is crucial to stick to my ten-week plan to ensure I achieve a high focused performance in which I am capable to provide maximum energy on the bike. If this is achieved, due to the intimacy of the space the audience will be immersed into the world of the play and more importantly my mind.

Works Cited: 

Bishop, N. (2015) Auditioning for Film and Television: Secrets from a Casting Director. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Graham, S. And Hoggett, S. (2015) The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre. London: Routledge.