My First Bike

Cast your mind to your first bike. It is likely its aesthetic was based on popular gender constructs. A girl’s bike would be typically fitted with bells, whistles, and even a basket; a boy’s bike masculine in form and style, fitted with pegs. Riding a bike is freeing. The feeling of velocity is exhilarating. Yet, if we remember this memory, does it live in the past, or does it now live in the present day? In My First Bike by acclaimed actor Maude Davey, an orange dragster is a vehicle to explore the fragility of time and self-identity. 

An audience congregates in the leafy courtyard at La Mama HQ. Maude Davey and loyal sidekick and performer Jane Bayly enter wearing full-length cream skirts, a costume of a bygone era. The pair call on the audience members to assemble fourteen separate vignettes in any order that tickles the collective fancy. For the maths hacks out there, this approach opens the possibility of 16,383 different shows – this season of My First Bike will explore only six versions. Once the order was settled – by the way, the act ‘Intro’ was slotted toward the end – we walked into the venue, took our seats, and Maude and Jane weaved their theatrical magic. 

Part autobiographical, part reflection, the mesmerising performance flows like a stream of consciousness, with threads dropped and picked up later, according to the audience’s unique list. Through song and storytelling, there is the story of twin girls who explore a dark cave only to find themselves lost; there is the story of a priest and a shark; there is the story of the orange dragster with delusions of grandeur only to meet their fate at the bottom of a tip. 

Wardrobe malfunctions aside, Maude Davey exercised a level of acting athleticism and prowess that few can reach. The direction and version of the story played out on stage – of which the possibilities are almost endless – was at the mercy of the audience’s whim and its ability to work together. Maude commanded the stage displaying a full range of emotion and gusto, quickly transitioning from song to poignant monologue. Gina Bayly guided the ship from the get-go, offering musical talent and jest at opportune moments. 

My First Bike is on stage until Sunday 27 August 2023. 

My First Bike
La Mama HQ, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton, 3053