THE VILLAGE BIKE

2011 Royal Court Theatre Writer Penelope Skinner Design Helen Goddard Light James Farncombe Sound David McSeveney Cast Nicholas Burns / Phil Cornwell / Romola Garai / Alexandra Gilbreath / Dominic Rowan / Sasha Waddell

Production photographs Keith Pattison

“But it is the director Joe Hill-Gibbins who makes the evening fly, orchestrating sometimes heavily nudge-wink dialogue so that it has a light naturalness, weaving action across the stage and, in one fine moment, sending the heroine wheeling away on the bike in front of a video of verdant countryside. Hill-Gibbins has made Brecht look lithe (A Respectable Wedding), and vivaciously realised Alecky Blythe's study of a brothel (The Girlfriend Experience). Now he vividly punctuates a new play, making every possible moment tell. He should be acclaimed: he is one of our best young directors” The Observer

“The play, by turns trenchantly funny yet also bleak, has already been extended twice at the Court; this bicycle’s path, one feels, has only just begun” New York Times

Directors photographs