Katy Ellis and Liv Andrusier in Ride at Curve Leicester. Picture: Danny Kaan
Ride continues at Leicester Curve’s studio space until 15 July 2023, prior to a run at the Southwark Playhouse, London from 19 July-12 August 2023.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Ride is a show which keeps on pedalling and getting better mileage as it grows. It tells the story of Annie Londonderry, the first woman to cycle around the world in the late 1980s, adapted from the book written by Peter Zheutlin, the grand-nephew of Londonderry.
Composers Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams saw great theatricality and musicality in Londonderry’s story and journey, and Ride was born. Starting out as a one-woman 20-minute tryout at the Bishopsgate Institute in November 2019, the show had its first full performance at the Vault Festival in 2020, which successfully led to a workshop production in June 2021 and then a debut full production in August 2022. The show is back again to get some more miles under its belt, and it plays this week in the studio space at Leicester’s Curve.
In the late 19th century, Londonderry (played here by Liv Andrusier) stands in the offices of the New York World newspaper, needing work and pitching to be given a regular column. A chance meeting with secretary Martha (Katy Ellis) sees Londonderry retelling the story of her 26,000 mile cycle around the world, fascinating Martha with everything that happened during the 15-month journey and roping Martha in to play the various supporting characters that Londonderry met on the way.
What starts out as a daring adventure to win a wager ultimately turns into a character study of a formidable and complex woman who projected one persona to the world but lived a very different one on the inside, and asks what really drove Londonderry to take her bicycle down a different path and what she was trying to leave behind.
Ride may be an intimate show but with such a fascinating woman behind the handlebars, it has a lot to say, not just about the ranking of women in 19th century America, but also touching on xenophobia, poverty, sexuality, antisemitism and the obligation to family at the sacrifice of individual happiness.
An outlandish raconteur, she created an illusion of armour and spun tales at every turn to get ahead in life wherever she could, hoping to keep everything hidden inside that would’ve made society view her as inferior. She makes for a brilliant leading character, and director Sarah Meadows ensures that the musical serves her well, digging deep and painting her vividly with flaws and strengths in equal measure.
Having the story told by a cast of two keeps the piece incredibly focused and driven, and is brilliantly engaging throughout. The set (designed by Amy Jane Cook) lends a wonderful intimacy to the piece, and is used inventively, and costumes (also by Cook) feel authentic and help to set the scene.
Smith and Williams’ score feels reminiscent of something that Sara Bareilles might write, and fans of Waitress are likely to find a lot to enjoy in the piano-folk style of its songs and strong female voices. It has a vaudeville quality at times as Londonderry puts on a “show” for Martha, and strikes a great balance between perky (‘Everybody Loves a Lie’) and poignant (‘Stranger’), as the story progresses, ending on an uplifting high (‘Ride the Moment’).
The music is well-crafted and thought-through, and gets into the brain even on the first listen. The lyrics can be a little tricky to decipher as they come thick and fast (Londonderry acknowledges in one scene that she talks too fast), which is a shame as it can leave the audience muddled in following the narrative, as Londonderry’s tale will be unknown to most theatregoers. Also, the score doesn’t allow many gaps for the audience to applaud at the end of songs, which does rob the performers of their praise (particularly at the end of the show-stopping ‘Stranger’, which thoroughly deserves some noise).
Andrusier gives an astonishing leading performance as Londonderry, selling it with utter conviction. She played the role in last year’s production and it feels like a second skin for her, appearing completely at ease and connected to the character. Never leaving the stage for 90 minutes and being the main storyteller is no easy task, especially with a lot of wordy dialogue and some big belting notes, but Andrusier holds attention and gives a magnetic performance.
Ellis is also brilliant as Martha, showing a wonderful awkwardness in the secretary and also a fine range as an actress with the other supporting roles she plays. The actresses’ voices also work brilliantly together and create some gorgeous harmonies.
It’s always great to see a new show finding its feet and evolving, and Ride is one such example. Strong women telling a fascinating story with layered depth and a catchy original score, it’s the sort of show that doesn’t come along very often, and richly deserves to keep pedalling for many more miles to come.
Rob Bartley