Ventoux
I got the chance to go and see something a little different at Norwich’s Playhouse theatre – a two man play about the epic rivalry between cycling legends Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani. Am I a cyclist? Well, I cycle every day, but as a commuter, rather than for kicks, but I love the sport and think the Tour De France is the most epic sporting contest of all. Entering the auditorium to find both actors on stage, doing push ups and riding their static bikes in front of a screen whilst Jon Hopkins pulsating tune Open Eye Signal played set the tone nicely.
The two actors addressed the audience throughout, giving the background and early life stories of both cyclists. The play was performed with the assumption that we the audience knew how history had judged these two men. Therefore we were already on the side of Pantani – portrayed as the natural talent, the natural climber, the romantic, the student of every aspect of his bike and how to beat his bigger, stronger rivals. Armstrong’s approach was more bludgeoning – raised in the flat, windy plains of Texas his approach was endurance, a determination to be better than everyone else and winning was everything, less in love with his bike, more about seeking the glory. Though we had their background story, the bulk of the hour long play concerned itself with their battle to conquer the brutal Mont Ventoux during the 2000 Tour, with Pantani having won the race in 1998 and Armstrong in 1999.
We saw them taking performance enhancing drugs after a stage, the screen showed footage of the ascent, with actual race commentary from Mr. Cycling Phil Liggett. We even have a few additional musical interludes, one of which, unsurprisingly, was Kraftwerk’s Tour De France. Pantani won the stage, Armstrong the race. Armstrong’s character was portrayed as the arrogant winner, the inspirational cancer survivor with the backing of presidents and a host of big name sponsors. Acceptance was everything. Pantani wanted and needed the love of his people. As we see how the years after this race affected both riders, the real difference in their personalities came to the fore. Pantani had been for banned for doping, Armstrong had never been caught despite the growing rumours. Pantani was wounded and genuinely hurt by what had happened, increasingly turning to cocaine, whereas Armstrong attacked everyone that suggested he was a cheat – often using his cancer to convince people that he of all people was clean.
The story has a tragic end with the death of Pantani, alone in an Italian hotel room on Valentine’s Day after a days long cocaine binge at the age of 34. The most poignant line is when Armstrong muses that whilst they all doped and cheated, the difference between him and everyone else was that he was an arsehole off the bike.
I’ve never seen a 2 Magpies production before, but thoroughly enjoyed Ventoux. It was interesting and made great use of minimal staging. I think I would have preferred it to have been completely serious, rather than having the odd line meant to amuse. Perhaps it could have started later too – I realise the rules of theatres dictate that all plays must begin at 7.30, but it felt odd to be leaving the theatre and heading home at 8.30. All in all though a very entertaining performance and I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for their next production.
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