With a moment to catch our collective breath, CYCLOPS’ fearless four will spring back into action with a feast of fantastic activities lined-up for the next month. Here’s an overview of our plans.

We’re mobile. We’re decorated. We’re bringing the puppetry to the people!

CYCLOPS does "The Greedy FIshers". Photo by Milan Ilnyckyj

August 18: Herstories Cafe

An outdoor “history” salon themed “Women and Bicycles” *Free*

Where: Trinity Bellwoods Park – Southwest corner

When: 6:00pm

What: A history of women and bicycles; “Woman and Cycling in Toronto – Fighting for inclusion since 1869″ with speakers Steve Brearton and Evalyn Parry. See the website for more information. This is a special outdoor event and is free for all to attend. We will meet beside the Trinity Bellwoods Recreation center (which is at 155 Crawford Street.) There is a lovely grove of trees, behind Fresh – off of the Crawford entrance. Please meet us there and bring blankets, drinks and food. They will provide some refreshments as well. Weather permitting.

August 20: Leslie Street Spit Group Ride

Join us for an afternoon cycling trip to the Leslie Street Spit.

Where: Meet at Coronation Park

When: Meet at 3:00pm, ride leaves at 3:30pm

What: Bring a buddy, a blanket, and a smile, and remember to wear a helmet and sunscreen. We’ll have a rest and picnic when we get there, and maybe even a little performance treat from the Squad.

Weather permitting: Follow us on Twitter to catch the latest updates.

August 25: Artspin

A multi-disciplinary art crawl style bicycle tour of galleries (commercial, artist run & public), art performances and visits to artist’s studios throughout various downtown Toronto neighbourhoods. *Free*

Where: Starts in Trinity-Bellwoods Park, CYCLOPS location To Be Determined

When: 6:30pm

What: “Each Art Spin tour will feature a new itinerary featuring some of the city’s most exciting artists. Much of our programing includes interactive events that directly involve our audiences, calling upon their creative participation. Art Spin works closely with different community partners to help capture and share the pulse of this city’s vibrant art scene.

The meeting point is the gate to Trinity Bellwoods Park at Queen St. & Strachan, between 6:30 – 7 pm and ending around 9 pm. Art Spin is a free event, and anyone regardless of age or cycling ability is welcome.”

This will be the last Artspin of 2011, congratulations to the organizers for creating such a sucessful series!

August 25 – 28: Scotiabank Toronto Buskerfest

Toronto’s biggest gathering of street performers all in support of Epilepsy Toronto.

Where: Buskerplay Area next to St. Lawrence Market North. Map Link Here

When: Parade at 2:15pm, Show at 2:30pm

What: St. Lawrence Market area shuts down for this incredible gathering of entertainers, artists, dare-devils, and more for four days. It’s one of the best festivals Toronto offers and it’s CYCLOPS first time there! We’ll be presenting a range of songs, puppetry, pageantry and ruckus-raising!

All gate donations go to Epilepsy Toronto: donations to performers, go to performers. Support both if you can!

September 15: Brampton Indie Arts Festival

Artistic Director Friendly Rich Marsella has rounded up the best-of-the-best in underground and experimental musicians, filmmakers, dancers, poets and visual artists for two nights of celebrations. *Free*

Where: Brampton Downtown, of course! Rose Theatre Brampton: Studio Two, Main Stage (Audience and Acts), Lobby and the Fountain Stage in Garden Square. Weather Permitting.

When: Roaming performances from 7 – 9pm

September 16: Scenic Ride #4: Don River Valley

Join us for a scenic evening ride on the river valley trails.

Where: Meet at Sherbourne & Queen’s Quay

When: Meet at 6:30pm, ride leaves at 7pm

What: Join us on this warm summer evening for a casual group excursion to one of Toronto’s most beautiful scenic locations, seen from the most beautiful mode of transportation we know: the bicycle.

Hope to see you out there!

Hire CYCLOPS!

If you are interested in bringing CYCLOPS to your festival, protest, party, or gallery please get in touch with Larissa at development_claypaper@bell.ca or call 416 708 3332. Follow us on twitter for regular updates.

Since the Leslie Street Spit (also Tommy Thompson Park) is closed on weekdays, we have changed the rescheduled our next group ride. We’ll still be meeting at Coronation Park, but at 3:00pm on August 20th instead of 6:30 August 19th. We’ll ride together out on the spit, have a little rest, picnic, kite-flying, cavorting, and then a leisurely return inland. We might just present a little performance treat for you to enjoy with us in the park. Everybody cross your fingers for good weather!

Here’s a link to the Friends of the Spit website:

http://www.friendsofthespit.ca/spit_directions_map.htm

And our route map:

Coronation Park to Leslie Spit -12km

We would like to apologize to the fine folks who came out to our cancelled ride on July 8th. We are very sorry for our absence. Unexpected circumstances in creating The Pedaler’s Wager interfered with the ride. Please let us know if you are joining us on this ride and if you have any suggestions for next time!

The Pedaler’s Wager

Dufferin Grove Park, Toronto
July 20 to August 14, 2011

*Weekend Mobile Matinees:
Dufferin Grove ->Fred Hamilton ->Trinity Bellwoods

Written & Directed by David Anderson & Amira Emma Routledge
Design by Amira Emma Routledge
Music Direction by Chris Wilson & Nuno Cristo

Clay & Paper Theatre proudly presents our first ever bicycle-based mobile play: The Pedaler’s Wager. This original comedy features puppetry, live music, and our very own CYCLOPS: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad. Each weekend audience members are invited to cycle from act to act alongside performers, literally following the troupe to the show’s conclusion.

We invite you on a journey through an epic tale of modernity, as spun by a peddler and his troupe who risk their livelihoods to tell this story of societal transformation. When a small family is forced to leave their riverside home, cajoled by developer Baron Boots, his consort Lady Grabsome, their disastrously hungry son Otto, and a smooth-talking PR Department, where will they go? Pushed into the new life of the Future, how will the family survive?

This ambitious undertaking is the culmination of three years of development establishing Clay & Paper Theatre’s CYCLOPS: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad. This show will take Clay & Paper’s unique brand of theatre to the streets; animating and energizing Toronto’s public spaces, promoting active living, and drawing attention to urban environmental issues through original bicycle-infused theatre.

Image by Barbara Klunder

The Pedaler’s Wager

All perfromances start in Dufferin Grove Park (Dufferin south of Bloor)

Stationary Performances:

Wednesday through Sunday at 7:00 PM
& Friday at 2:00 PM

Weekend Mobile Matinees:

Saturdays & Sundays at 2:00 PM

Act 1: Dufferin Grove Pk Act 2: Fred Hamilton Pk Act 3: Trinity Bellwoods Pk

BYOB: Bring your own bike!

$10 or Pay-What-You-Can
www.clayandpapertheatre.org

12 Bicycle Drawings by Christine Berrie

Here’s a sneak peek at what we’re working on right now:

The route has been set! Here’s a map of The Pedaler’s Wager‘s mobile matinee route. Act 1: Dufferin Grove Park, Act 2: Fred Hamilton Park, Act 3: Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Our team of hard working volunteers are papier-mâchéing puppets at one of our Puppets and Props nights in Dufferin Grove Park.

This percussion instrument, made of bike parts, was developed alongside musical inventor Nuno Cristo. It will be played in parks and parades in The Pedaler’s Wager, starting July 14th.

Don’t forget to join us at ART BIKE! on Saturday!

“We all know that when people ride bikes, life is better. In this short video, we bring this idea to life as riders trigger projectors throughout a city, transforming an urban environment into a vibrant, colorful world. A world made better, by bikes.”

A bike, a trailer, and a passion for cycling

At 70 years old, David Anderson, Artistic Director of Clay & Paper Theatre located in Liberty Village, is a passionate cyclist who has inspired hundreds of Toronto residents to get on their bikes. Yes, you read that right – hundreds!

Cycling is in David’s blood, evident from the age of six when his father bought him a bicycle called The Hopper. “After the war bicycles were only built in adult sizes,” David fondly reminisces. “I had to put one leg in the triangle and pedal kind of sideways until my dad built pedals that I could reach from the seat.” David’s enthusiasm for cycling continued into his adult life as he joined cycling teams and became an amateur racer.

Today, David’s passion for cycling is still apparent. He and everyone at Clay & Paper cycle to work and to performances, using a bike trailer to transport props. The theatre company seeks out cyclists in the audition process and encourages cast members to take a CAN-BIKE cycling safety course.

David also helped develop CYCLOPS (The Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad) so the troupe could perform in not so acces­sible public spaces and promote cycling at the same time. “We are very much committed to cycling as a solution to our city’s transportation problem,” says David.

This summer, David will launch a show that requires the audience to cycle from scene to scene in a bicycle parade. Inspiring people to get on their bikes and promoting cycling is David’s passion.

The Liberty Village BIA is one of many Smart Commute part­ners. Recently awarded the 2011 BIA Association Achievement Award for environmental responsibility, their initiatives include Bike Here, an art integrated bike locker/parking system. As a Smart Commute Toronto Central partner, which is administered by the Toronto Environment Office, LVBIA members can access services such as discounted TTC passes and the Liberty Village Carpool Zone.

via Smart Commute

CYCLOPS is very excited to be working with musical inventor Nuno Cristo for our upcoming show The Pedaler’s Wager. Nuno is helping us to build instruments from bike parts to create the musical score, but before that can happen, we need your help!

We are in need of bike parts: frames, horns, wheels – but especially bike bells.  Lots and lots of bike bells.  Do you have any kicking around that you’d like to see in our show? Keep your eyes peeled for that abandoned bike frame in the streets of Toronto.

Drop us a line on facebook or twitter if you see a perfect treasure just waiting to be reincarnated into a musical star!