Review: CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS at Cygnet Theatre At Hale School

If you’re looking for a theatrical experience that leaves you breathless, CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS is it. After an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this interesting and innovative one man show has landed in Australia to delight everyone, from cycling fans to theatrer fans and everyone in between.

2011 seems a long time ago, and it is something to bring the impact of that time to stage. It’s something more to compress the journey that spans Cadel Evans’ lifetime and was punctuated by a 2300 km winning ride in the Tour de France to an hour. However, CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS not only conveys a very long story into such a short amount of time, it delivers all the ups and downs of the journey so that you can’t help but feel a part of the journey.

The spotlight belongs entirely to Connor Delves, who is a Hale School alumnus himself. There’s something poetic about him returning to his roots to deliver this performance of Cadel Evans' rise. He perfectly becomes Evans for the show, perfectly balancing his generally unassuming and drawn back character with the need to convey so much emotion and drive into the performance. Evans’ physical and mental endurance is wonderfully on show, with Delves illustrating the tremendous mental fortitude required to follow his passion for cycling, grow from criticism, and be a principal figure in cycling in what is fairly well known to be the doping era. CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS also succeeds in showing some of the physical endurance required to complete such a feat, with most of the show taking place ON the actual bike Evans rode in his Tour triumph, with screens to illustrate the journey from Evans’ beginnings in the Northern Territory, right through to the victory ride along the Champs Elysees in Paris. Delves spends most of the show actually pedalling, with shortness of breath, fatigue and sweat becoming actual parts of the performance.

The staging is deceptively simple yet incredibly effective, anchored by the bike at center stage. Behind Delves, three large screens act as your window into Cadel’s world, blending immersive archival footage of the French countryside with abstract visuals that mirror his internal struggle. These screens do more than just provide a backdrop; they create a sense of relentless forward motion, making the small stage feel as vast as the Pyrenees. Whether it's the red dust of the Northern Territory or the frantic energy of the peloton, the multimedia elements ensure the audience is riding right alongside him. The minimalist lighting highlights all of Evans’ struggles wonderfully without ever overdoing it, with a stage that brings you right up to the action.

Ultimately, CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS is a triumph of both physical theater and storytelling. It manages to take a well-known story and make it feel suspenseful, raw, and deeply personal. It’s a grueling, beautiful, and high-cadence tribute to an Australian legend that proves you don’t need a peloton to create a spectacle—just a bike, a few screens, and a powerhouse performance.

CADEL: LUNGS ON LEGS is at Hale School’s Cygnet Theatre until February 13 before heading to Adelaide and an Australian tour. The Perth season is currently sold out. More information available at Cadel the Play Australia.