Edinburgh fringe performers push physical limits with gym equipment on stage
Several shows at this year's Edinburgh fringe put performers on stationary bikes and treadmills to authentically portray the physical and emotional toll of endurance sport. The actors cycle or run real distances during every performance, with no understudy if injury strikes.
A number of productions at this year's Edinburgh fringe are demanding genuine physical endurance from their casts, using gym equipment such as stationary bikes and treadmills built into the staging. The approach lets these shows depict the true struggle of competitive sport — the pain of striving and the sting of falling short.
In "SpinQueen™", the writer-performer leads an increasingly unhinged spin class, cycling around 16km per show while her character spouts "toxic positivity" and an obsession with thinness. The story's climactic moment draws on a difficult personal experience the performer went through with an ex-partner.
Another production, "Cadel: Lungs on Legs", honours the first Australian to win the Tour de France. Its performer rides the actual bikes used to win the 2011 race, covering roughly 27km in every show. Audience members have reportedly approached him afterwards wanting to touch his calves just to confirm they're real muscle. His father works as the show's bike mechanic.
"The Distance" focuses instead on athletes who are talented but never quite make it to the top. Its writer-performer, once a teenage international long-distance runner himself, runs about 8km on an old foldable treadmill during each performance. Preparing for the run has meant training and recovering like an elite athlete again, including managing a calf injury suffered earlier this year.
The fringe has a history of physically demanding, equipment-based theatre, including a treadmill-based comedy award-winner from 2016 and a pandemic-era eco-theatre piece in which cyclists generated the show's own lighting and sound.
All three performers describe treating the run as seriously as elite sport, adjusting diet, sleep and even giving up alcohol to prepare. As in professional cycling or running, there is no understudy if an injury occurs mid-performance.
