The information on: `Marathon'

What Is It?

British premiere of the contemporary Italian dramatist Edoardo Erba's powerfully suggestive comedy about a couple of young men training for the New York marathon. The current run features two moving tracks on stage with the actors literally pounding their way through the hour-long show.

Who's In It?

An excellent company of two features Ciaran McMenamin and JD Kelleher, who are put through their paces in Mick Gordon's excellent yet demanding production.

What They Say About It

"Colin Teevon's extremely funny translation relishes the coarse badinage between the two and there are times when you feel (four-letter expletives and anatomical explicitness notwithstanding) that this pair echoes the binary paradigm of the TV sitcom The Likely Lads," Paul Taylor, The Independent.

"Running, we are told early in the proceedings, `is just like life, when you think about it... doing something that has no sense, knowing it has no sense, but doing it to the bitter end all the same.' The dramatist should have trusted his audience to draw this conclusion for itself... Nevertheless, the dialogue is absorbing... Best of all, the play moves up several gears in its closing moments, with a transcendent twist that sends shivers down the spine," Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph.

"The actors' exertions have the same energising effect on mediocre material that the rollerblade choreography has on Starlight Express," Nick Curtis, Evening Standard.

Where You Can See It

Marathon is at the Gate Theatre, London W11 (0171-229 0706) to 11 Dec