It’s Not A Sprint

Novae Theatre in association with the Space presents
It’s Not A Sprint
Vault Festival
27th February – 3rd March @ 19:40
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by Gemsy

Grace Chapman slays and captivates in this charmingly whimsical, witty and pithy one-woman show.

Maddie is a 30-year-old currently using every iota of mental and physical power she possesses to run her first marathon whilst simultaneously battling her inner demons to prove she’s got her proverbial sh*t together.

And she’s also strapped to a balloon.

The combination is electric. I genuinely never thought watching a girl run on the spot on an empty stage for an hour could be so exhilarating an experience.

It capriciously leaps from cheerful, light-hearted humour to confronting the audience with its own profound existential fears. Chapman’s vigour in (ahem!) running (literally) between the two extremes gives the show exactly the effortless style it needs. Combine this with Champman’s wonderful warm portrayal of a millennial facing leg-stitches and b*tches with unassuming deftness and you have a piece of theatre that has us (yes, another race pun!) cheering all the way to the finishing line.

It’s a hilarious, unpretentious and hideously relatable. At one point (about 13 miles in, I think) Maddie shouts ‘I’m going to have a medal!’ and Chapman definitely deserves one herself for a fabulously put together piece.