Book-It's TWO WHEELS NORTH hits the Road in King County
By: Gabrielle Sierra Sep. 09, 2009
Book-It Repertory Theatre and 4Culture's Heritage and Site-Specific performance divisions partner to present a Book-It Special Edition: Two Wheels North, by Evelyn McDaniel Gibb, adapted and
directed by Annie Lareau. Beginning September 25, staged reading-style performances in the Book-It style will take place at a variety of sites around King County as an adjunct celebration of the centennial of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition of 1909.
The Two Wheels of the title are ridden by Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco. The fresh high school graduates set out on their second-hand bicycles from Santa Rosa, California in August of 1909 to take on the challenge of cycling from their home to Seattle for the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. With less than six dollars between them, they pedal, push, and walk a thousand miles of primitive roads for 54 days. The intrepid boys encounter nearly every imaginable natural, mechanical, and human challenge on their one-speed bikes. While adventure is their primary lure, there is a promised purse of $25 from the Post-Intelligencer waiting for them if they can only make it to Seattle before the final day of the AYP.
The story may sound like a novelist's creation, but Evelyn McDaniel Gibb, an award-winning writer whose stories and articles have appeared in dozens of magazines and in the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series, grew up hearing her father's stories and crafted her recollections into an historic novel based on his great adventure. In a 1961 interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Vic McDaniel (then age 70) said, "It was quite an experience, but I wouldn't want to have to do it again."
4Culture approached Book-It with Two Wheels North to suggest a joint venture to produce this aptly-timed show. Book-It and Book-It All Over have long experience producing and touring their signature Special Editions to venues such as branches of the King County Library System, the Seattle and Frye Art Museums, and the Timberland Regional Library System.
Book-It Education Director Annie Lareau is directing and adapting Two Wheels North. She has previously created Special Editions projects for the company, including Willa Cather's My Ántonia, which later became a full-length adaptation premiered in the company's 2008-09 season.
The cast of Two Wheels North features Nik Perleros and Damian Peterson as our cyclists; two additional actors will fill in the roles of the people-and wildlife-they encounter along the way.
In addition to this Special Editions project with 4Culture, Book-It is celebrating its 20th Anniversary season with productions of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, Jane Austen's Emma; David James Duncan's The River Why; and John Irving's The Cider House Rules, Part One: Here In St. Cloud's on its home stage at the Center House Theatre. The Target Family Fun Series showcases the Book-It All Over (the company's education arm) touring productions in free public performances, also at the Center House Theatre. Detailed information can be found on the company's website at www.book-it.org. Book-It Repertory Theatre, a leader in the narrative theatre movement, was founded in 1990. Book-It is a non- profit organization with a dedication to great literature and quality theatre experiences through simple, sensitive and imaginative production, and to inspiring its audiences to read. The company is funded, in part, by generous contributions from corporations and foundations, and hundreds of individuals who share our passion for literature. 4Culture is the cultural services agency for King County, Washington providing programs, financial support and services in the arts, public art, heritage and historic preservation for all residents and visitors in King County. http://www.4culture.org
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