Preview: The Cyclist by Intercultural Theatre Institute

Following a thought provoking first public production in March, the latest batch of Intercultural Theatre Institute (ITI) graduating students return to the Drama Centre Black Box to present their second show of the year: Vijay Tendulkar’s The Cyclist.

Translated into English by Balwant Bhaneja, The Cyclist tells of the adventure of life from the perspective of a nameless cyclist as she sets off on a solo journey. But this is no straightforward odyssey – best known for his experiments in form, Vijay Tendulkar instead writes the journey into the geographical, the historical (of the bicycle) and of the cyclists’ psyche. The cyclist tries to get away from her own life as she dreams of distant worlds and unforgettable characters from a Bandit to a Merman, her journey becoming an exploration of the human condition itself as we experience laughter, danger, despair, and hope alongside her.