Bicycle Face

Bicycle Face derives its name from an infamous “medical condition” fabricated by doctors in the 1890s. Its place of origin? Victorian England. Its alleged symptoms? Clenched jaw, bulging eyes, pale face, disturbing aura of unprecedented self-sufficiency…the list goes on. Its intended target? Women. Bicycle-riding women. Unruly, unattractive, unladylike, bicycle-riding women.

Written for chamber ensemble, a bicycle, and two actors, Bicycle Face takes us on a journey as we celebrate the joys brought about by cycling and learn about laughable (and, yes, real) attempts made to gatekeep that joy from women. The piece was inspired by an array of media content from the time of the Bicycle Boom. Some of these sources merely influenced the work—news article titles such as, “Thrashed by a Lady Cyclist,” and, “Is It Possible That No Pretty Women Ride Bicycles?”—while others are directly featured in the script—bicycle advertisements, New York World’s “List of ‘Don’t’s for Women Riders,” and suffragist Frances Willard’s book, How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle.

While focused on the era of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the United States, Bicycle Face seeks to remind us of the resilience and strength women across cultures consistently demonstrate whenever faced with barriers to their independence, autonomy, and personal expression. Despite how much progress has been made since the 1910s, we still have a long way to go and must keep on pedaling!