2015 CROSS COUNTRY TOUR

CROSS COUNTRY TOUR

In the Summer of 2015, Agile Rascal Traveling Bike Theatre was the first theatre troupe to tour an original play across the country, traveling the whole way on bicycles. Making our way from San Francisco, California to New York City, the seven crew members carried costumes, set and props on bicycles, pedaling an average of 350 miles a week for over three months, traveling over 4,600 miles. We performed in seventeen cities and towns along the way, at venues that varied from bicycle shops, farms and bakeries to more traditional theatre spaces.

SUNLIGHT ON THE BRINK

Our original play, Sunlight on the Brink was devised by the performers, under the leadership of playwright, Dara Silverman, who proposed “the intersection of Technology, Spirituality and Capitalism” as a jumping off point. The play that ultimately emerged from over nine months of collaborative creative work incorporated many themes that ran parallel to the bicycle journey we were about to undertake including: humanity’s responsibility for each other and for the natural world, as well as the search for meaning even in these extreme times.

The play takes place in the American Southwest after a massive drought has forced the entire population of the West Coast to head east. At a gas station in the desert, a station attendant and a child wait to be rescued; they are joined by a marine biologist who missed the evacuation while at sea, and a pair of spiritual travelers heading west. As the water at the gas station runs out, our characters must choose whether to confront their terrifying situation or continue to deny what’s increasingly hard to avoid.

Lelia Johnson - Jules/Bird

John Paul Olsen - The Attendant

Dara Silverman - The Kid