A coming-of-age story set in the world of elite sport, it follows teenager Chris as he first discovers a love for cross-country and his Olympic dream is ignited. Getting to know his new body while trying to make that body do extraordinary things. And everything that leads to…very serious things like body dysmorphia and disordered eating. But also very bizarre things like pooing in someone’s front garden immediately before a race because the queue for the portaloos is a mile long, the gun is in 4 minutes, and you’re trying to qualify for the World Cross Country Champs.
Part play, part extreme workout, The Distance will be an extraordinarily physical performance featuring a treadmill onstage, offering an insight into a world that most ‘normal’ people know almost nothing about. But whether you’re a fan of sport or not, everyone has their own relationship with ambition and sacrifice and a sense of self. Do we live to work, or work to live? What’s the difference between a job and a calling? Can we ever truly rid ourselves of the addiction of ambition, or does it just attach itself to other things? And is it ok to defecate on a stranger’s lawn in pursuit of greatness?
The Distance will invite you to reflect on these important questions and more, as well as featuring jokes, flapjack and some big tunes. And possibly nudity. It’s a work-in-progress, so it’s all to play for.
Tickets are offered at subsidised or full price to all audience members. There are no ‘qualifying criteria’ for a subsidised place. If you can afford a full price ticket, please buy one, as this will support Amplify in continuing to offer free and subsidised development opportunities for artists across the Midlands region.
Ben Norris is a writer, performer, and former international long-distance runner from Nottingham. His debut solo show, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Family’, won the 2015 IdeasTap Underbelly Award at the Edinburgh Fringe before touring the UK and Australia, and his first short film, commissioned by Channel 4, was nominated for a Midlands Royal Television Society Award. Ben’s second short, commissioned by the BBC and BFI, is currently at festivals and his third (and first as writer-director) is in pre-production with BFI and CenterFrame. Previous commissions include work for BBC Radio 4 and the Southbank Centre. He has published two pamphlets of poetry and is twice a national poetry slam champion.
Ben’s debut play, ‘Autopilot’, was named by The Stage as one of the Best Shows of the Year at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe, and was shortlisted for the Popcorn Prize for New Writing. He wrote the monologues for the Olivier-nominated jukebox musical ‘The Choir of Man’, and originated the part of The Poet in both the Fringe and West End productions. Ben is a former writer-in-residence at Theatr Clwyd and Nottinghamshire Libraries, and a former Creative Associate at Nottingham Playhouse. He is also the voice of Ben Archer in ‘The Archers’ on BBC Radio 4, and Rogier in the video game ‘Elden Ring’.
Julia Locascio is a theatre and opera director focused on collective creation and new forms. She frequently collaborates with writers and composers to make new work with big-hearted characters and a mischievous relationship to structure. She is passionate about the surreal and the weird. Recent directing includes Vanya’s (The Other Palace), Merrily We Roll Along (CSSD), Follies (CSSD), Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses (CSSD), Smile (Mountview), London Road (CSSD), Magdalene (Arcola) and Cymbeline (Chinatown Warehouse, Chicago).
Julia has also worked widely as an associate director and assistant designer in London’s West End, with the RSC, The Old Vic, Punchdrunk, and on the first US tour of War Horse. She was Associate Director of the US tour of the musical The Last Ship, with music by and starring Sting. She has taught for the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Mountview Academy, ArtsEd, Guildhall, the Young Vic and British Youth Opera. Julia was awarded a Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa by Arts Council England and was the 2018 Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC) Foundation Charles Abbott Musical Theatre Fellow. Represented by Rachel Daniels at Berlin Associates.
