Presented by Adapt Enterprises
Reviewed 22 November 2019
Featuring local actors, Ross Vosvotekas and Todd Gray, Adapt Enterprises began its 2019 run of Edoardo Erba’s Marathon at the Bakehouse Theatre this week. A two-man show, this deceptively simple play depicts two mates talking about life, love and everything in between as they train for the New York marathon.
Steve (Gray) is the “blokey”, determined character paired with Mark (Vosvotekas) as the more philosophical of the two. Steve and Mark make for great foils as they run together, egging each other on and simultaneously tearing one another down over shared histories. What starts out as relatively small talk — the Greek hero who ran to Athens to warn of the Spartans, their dreams of running the New York marathon together and gathering the willpower to simply run through the pain — steadily escalates to more personal topics. The two explore questions of endurance versus why individuals do the things they do, whether God exists, childhood memories of family and friends and, importantly, women and heartache.
While at first Mark seems the weaker, whinier of the two, the script cleverly juxtaposes each character into leading and trailing positions, both literally and morally. It should be noted that the original Italian version by Erba has been translated to English by Colin Teevan and given an ‘Adelaide edge’ by director, Vosvotekas. The universality of the themes it explores allows the story to seamlessly transpose to an Aussie setting.
Gray and Vosvotekas give exemplary performances in Marathon, not least of all because the two are jogging for almost the entirety of the play. As pointed out in his Director’s Note, Vosvotekas says the two had to train for months to build fitness for this role. Their stamina and fitness to keep up the literal training while delivering the story of these two friends is inspiring, but be warned the continual motion can be a little hard to watch if you’re prone to motion sickness.
Overall, this is an ambitious and wonderfully delivered play. The story is thought-provoking and, without giving away spoilers, it takes turns and twists that lift it to the next level. The actors are wonderful examples of local talent who deserve a full house every night, not just on opening night. If you’re a fan of live theatre, don’t mind a splash of controversy and coarse language, you’ll love Marathon.
Reviewed by Samantha Bond
Twitter: @SamStaceyBond
Rating (out of 5): 4.5
Venue: Bakehouse Theatre
Season: Nov 20-23, 27-30
Duration: 1 hour
Tickets: $22 – $25
Bookings: www.bakehousetheatre.com
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