Symphonie de la Bicyclette

Presented by Brink Productions in association with Merrigong Theatre Company.

Life is short, and the Tour de France is long.

By Hew Parham

A funny, heartfelt one-man show about cycling and obsession, envy and ambition, winning and losing, and finding the inner grit to dominate the mountain stages of life.

Hew is a passionate wannabe cyclist. But Hew is in a malaise. Stuck in a relationship with his exercise bike and going nowhere, he has long harboured a pathological envy of his more successful high school friend, now professional cyclist, Jake.

Told in parallel with our hero’s tale is the story of the great Gino Bartali (1914 – 2000), winner of the Tour de France in 1938 and 1948, who, in WWII, risked his life to save Jewish lives in Northern Italy by secretly transporting documents in his bicycle.

In Symphonie de la Bicyclette these stories combine to create an absurdly hysterical yet ultimately moving portrait of the quest for glory and heroism.

The world premiere of this new theatre piece celebrating our obsession with life on two wheels has been specially programmed as part of the festivities surrounding the UCI Road World Championships Wollongong 2022.

Performance Times
Wed 21 Sep, 7.30pm
Thu 22 Sep, 6.30pm 
Fri 23 Sep, 7.30pm
Sat 24 Sep, 1.30pm & 7.30pm