In her previous hour, 2023’s Objectified, Kathy Maniura revealed an ingenious flare for characters by portraying a series of sentient inanimate objects. This time she plays an entitled manchild who’s worryingly over-attached to one object – until he falls off it. But will that bump on the head finally make him self-aware too?
We meet Cycling Man in A&E after that intriguing accident. With GoPro helmet standing proud and expensive shorts bulging in all sorts of disturbing places, he’s vainly expecting preferential treatment, but passes the time by explaining the journey to date. Most heartfelt is a meet-cute in a park that began the greatest relationship of his life: with the chaps from Islington Cycling Club. And there’s also his wife, but the wheels are coming off as she forges ahead, with everything.
You may wonder at the outset whether this deeply annoying individual will sustain a full-length show, but Maniura packs it full of good things, from pump-poking to audience ridealongs, GoPro revelations and the inevitable reckoning between man and machine. Cycling Man himself has quite the arc; from those arrogant beginnings there’s a journey of discovery and he could even evoke some sympathy, before a tremendous final twist. It’s a cracking ride.
Kathy Maniura: The Cycling Man, Pleasance Courtyard, until 24 Aug, 4.35pm