Those of us of a certain age will remember the Oscar winning film of the 1928 Olympics and the rivalry of Liddell and Abrahams. Given its a film about running, part of the interest in attending this at the Hampstead Theatre was to see how they could possibly put it on the stage.
I should say at the outset that everyone seemed to enjoy it, and so did I. But was it a success in the theatre? Well, no, not in my view, because it was too many things. The choreography was great, and that is the best way to describe much of it, as a piece of dance or at least physical theatre. There was a figure of 8 running track that looped behind the stalls (the production was in the round, so the main stage was in the middle of the theatre). And the stage included a revolving plate allowing the actors to run against the moving track (or at least while it worked - it came to a grinding halt towards the end of the first act which meant some hasty repairs). So we had running round all the loops, running round in a circle, plus some slow motion stuff and some stylised formation dance.
Then much of the first act was a little like "Oh What a Lovely War", a comic musical. And then part way through the second act, a play broke out, with the drama of Liddell being pressurised to run on a Sunday against his religious beliefs. So good yes, and you would struggle to find any additional different ways to show running races, but ultimately better as a film. Its transferring to the West End, of course in time for the Olympics, and so might find an audience. But I wouldn't make a second trip.
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