The studio space at The Lowry Theatre may not have been the most obvious choice to watch a bike race, but 2 Magpies Theatre’s production of Ventoux did just that, telling the story of Marco Pantani (Tom Barnes) and Lance Armstrong (Alexander Gatehouse) as they struggled with the toughest stage in the Tour de France. Recently, of course, Lance Armstrong has admitted to being a part of the doping culture of competitive cycling, making his frequent motivational monologues all the more poignant.
The staging was minimal, with just two stationary bikes and three cooler boxes to break up the bare, black space.
Despite this, however, the play effectively traced the story of two cycling legends, taking us through their careers, along the several Tour de France’s they struggled with, and their own personal battles with illness and drugs. The use of audio-visual techniques such as the film projection of the courses (provided by Mad Adam Films) and voice-over of commentators also helped to set the scene.
The actors warming up on-stage can often feel tired and overused as it is seen so frequently in modern theatre, but felt appropriate for this performance as the actors warmed up their bodies for the rigorous performance to come. If anything, I would have liked to have seen them play more with this idea and try to build the characters more even in this initial pre-set.
Although both of the performances were good and impressively energetic, it was the superb direction of Matt Wilks which really helped this performance to shine. The way the performers were able to use small props and minimal set to so wonderfully weave the story of the two athletes was incredible, and overall the production was slick and well crafted. The unravelling of both of the athletes’ desired narratives and their subsequent fall from grace was expertly, elegantly and tastefully achieved.
Ventoux will be touring the UK throughout Summer 2016, with plans to extend this run into 2017. I hope that this wish is achieved, as this high-energy hour-long performance, a true endurance test for the actors, deserves to be seen.
Reviewed: 21st May 2016
Reviewer: Hannah Torbitt
Photo: Julian Hughes
