RED BIKE
By Caridad Svich
January 10 – March 2
Cities change. People change. Get on the bike and ride.
“So, it’s like this: you’re eleven years old, you live in a small town and the
times are dark, as they say. But you have a bike, a bike you love, a bike that makes you dream about a world bigger than the one you live in. One day you take a ride through the outer edges of your town and something goes awry. Let’s call it an accident. Let’s say it causes you to see the world anew. Or maybe it just causes you to see the world for what it truly is.” – Playwright Caridad Svich
Know Theatre’s 21st season jumps back into action in 2019 with the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of RED BIKE, a new play by Caridad Svich.
Joining productions by Pygmalion Productions (Salt Lake City), Simpatico Theatre (Philadelphia), and The Wilbury Theatre Group (Providence), this January Know Theatre will bring Cincinnati this timely and kinetic tale of changing cities and the fears we face on the precipice of the big wide world.
Unfolding through the eyes of a single character at two important junctures in their life, RED BIKE takes you on an emotional ride through memory and time. Director Holly L. Derr, whose work has previously been seen at the Know in 2014’s Harry & The Thief and 2018’s SuperTrue, takes the reins to shape this bold and fearless new work of American theatre.
Here’s what Holly has to say about how RED BIKE resonates for anyone who has ever felt left behind or wanting more:
“This short play contains so much: stories within stories of ever-shifting landscapes and cycles of disenfranchisement. Playwright Caridad Svich’s central character expresses an aching, a longing to participate fully in the American Dream, and a constant frustration that they are denied that opportunity.
As a child, they found equilibrium on their bike. Their red bike. The bike that every kid wanted. The bike that could take them anywhere and everywhere.
This play is an indictment of American consumer culture, where consumption is deemed moral and possession the mark of a good person; as well as an examination of the endless process of gentrification happening all over the country, in which new warehouses replace old factories and local restaurants become too expensive for local residents.
Yet there is a fierce strength at the heart of this character, an unwillingness to give up, a refusal to stop dreaming of better times.
I love them because every time they fall off, they get back on that bike. That red bike.”
Breathing life into the central character of this tale is a pair of actors who we are proud to welcome back to the Know MainStage. Montez O. Jenkins-Copeland, last seen in 2014’s Moby Dick and 2015’s Girlfriend, joins Maliyah Gramata-Jones, an SCPA alumnus last seen with the Know in 2012 and 2014’s Afghan Women’s Writing Project. They have the unique challenge of exploring a single character from multiple points in time, while keeping the raw immediacy of this first-person story pumping as hard as the pedals on the play’s namesake bicycle.
They are perfectly matched to director Holly L. Derr’s dynamic, physical style of theatre-making, as well as the sharp-witted and poetic style of playwright Caridad Svich’s storytelling.
Explore the power of memory and the thrill of discovering what your future can be in a rapidly changing world in this eye-opening new MainStage adventure.
This heart-pounding ride takes the stage January 11 – February 2, only at Your Theatrical Playground.
Cast in Alphabetical Order
- Maliyah Gramata-Jones
- Montez O. Jenkins-Copeland
Production Team
- Director – Holly L. Derr
- Scenic & Lighting Designer – Andrew J. Hungerford
- Costume Designer – Noelle Johnston
- Sound & Projections Designer – Douglas Borntrager
- Prop Designer – Rebecca Armstrong
Calendar Listing
RED BIKE by Caridad Svich
8:00 pm January 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31; Feb 1, 2
3:00 pm January 13, 20*, 27
*A pre-show brunch is available on this date with purchase of $35 “Brunch + Show” tickets in advance. Brunch provided by Water Tower Fine Wines.
Know Theatre of Cincinnati. 1120 Jackson Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. In historic Over-the-Rhine.
Tickets:
- $25 regular price tickets
- $35 “Living Wage” tickets, supporting working artists in Cincinnati
- $15 Rush tickets at the door 10 minutes prior to curtain (when available)
- FREE walk-up tickets are available on Wednesdays, as part of Know’s Welcome Experiment. Advance reservations to Welcome Experiment performances are $5.00.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting knowtheatre.com or calling 513.300.5669 (KNOW).
RED BIKE is sponsored by Dan & Fran Bailey, Drew Gores & George Warrington, and the Warrington Foundation
Season Design sponsorship provided by Travis McElroy.
Additional MainStage support provided by
The Louise Taft Semple Foundation
The John A. Schroth Charitable Trust, PNC Bank Charitable Trust Committee
Know Theatre is Cincinnati’s Theatrical Playground. The Know showcases unexpected voices, new works, and plays that embrace the inherent theatricality of the live experience. Know Theatre seeks to be a place where artists and audiences feel welcome to take artistic risks, creating work that is cutting edge and accessible.
Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.
Know Theatre is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate Member of the National New Play Network.
Submissions are open for SERIALS 9: THUNDERDOME!
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 