EdFringe Review: The Distance

The Distance (Summerhall, Main Hall) is a one-man show about endurance and single-mindedness, in which schoolboy Chris inadvertently discovers a passion and talent for cross-country running when the school football pitch is too frozen to play on.

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It’s a physical endurance epic of a show with Ben Norris—playing Chris (and one or two other characters)—running on a treadmill and climbing on metal scaffolding for much of the 60 minutes. He runs, he climbs, he balances, he swings, he sweats, all the while telling Chris’s story of dedication to the sport he loves. All supported by his Mum—chosen from the audience by Ben Norris early in the play. Personally, I could have done without that, but I’ll admit I’m not a great fan of audience participation in any shape or form, and today’s ‘Mum’ certainly seemed to enjoy herself and, having seen the play before, possibly placed herself strategically in the middle of the front row on purpose.

There’s the inevitable teacher/coach/mentor, played with great affection by Norris too, and the more remote promoter, a bit more interested in talking to Mum than young Chris. Otherwise, it’s all about Chris and the ups and downs of his training and performance. As a Mum, hearing the distances Chris the schoolboy was running on his training runs felt like complete madness and it appeared there was no close-at-hand coaching to advise him otherwise. But we’re rooting for Chris to reach the ultimate goal—the Olympics—after all this gruelling training.

A Powerhouse Solo Performance by Ben Norris

Ben Norris is great. As well as all the physical stuff, he’s a great actor, embodying the boy, the bullies, the coach, the girlfriend and making the audience laugh as he chucks each successive layer of sports kit at his Mum, as he moves up the leagues. He’s also very endearing—quite the cheeky chappie, yet all the while doing all of that training right in front of our eyes.

So, does he make it? You’ll have to catch the play yourself or get your hands on the play script, available in paperback or ebook from Nick Hern Books. There are plans afoot for a London run, so keep your fingers crossed. All I can say is that it made me cry, and if you’re a runner (or sportsman/athlete of any sort) or the Mum of one you’ll understand why.

As with so many plays about sports, you don’t need to know anything about that sport—or have any interest in it really—to appreciate the hard work, dedication and suffering that goes into the winning. It’s tough out there and only the strong—and determined—survive.

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