Synopsis

A quaint English village in the height of summer. The air is thick with heat and unspoken desires.

Becky, a restless teacher in her early 30s, finds herself trapped in a stifling marriage as she awaits the birth of her first child. Her husband John, well-meaning but oblivious, busies himself with preparations for fatherhood. When Becky impulsively buys a secondhand bicycle from Oliver, a charismatic local, she sets in motion a series of events that will shatter the fragile facade of her seemingly perfect life.

As Becky’s frustrations mount, she begins to rebel against the confines of her domestic existence. She embarks on a reckless affair with Oliver, pushing boundaries and indulging dark fantasies. As the summer heat intensifies, so too does Becky’s spiral into self-destruction, threatening to unravel everything she once held dear.

Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike is a darkly comic and unflinching exploration of female sexuality, marital discontent, and the suffocating nature of societal expectations. Through increasingly tense situations, Skinner dissects the complexities of modern relationships and the struggle for personal identity in the face of impending motherhood. The play challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about desire, fidelity, and the sometimes destructive pursuit of fulfilment.