In 1904, the Olympic Marathon was a shambles. Running through lawless chaos, participants sweated towards an ever-receding finish line, desperately just putting one foot in front of the other. In 2020, the Olympic Marathon never happened. But the rest is pretty much bang on.
Critically acclaimed musical theatre companies and artists including Burnt Lemon Theatre, Spitlip, Sheep Soup, The Letter Room, And Maimuna Memon are collaborating remotely on a new digital project: a musical ‘choose your own adventure’
Inspired by the 1904 Marathon – an infamous, surreal race beset by challenges, chaotic leadership and utterly unfathomable obstacles – they want to create a response to this year: the ‘marathon’ no-one chose to run
The Marathon Project will be a rallying cry against these desperate times, inviting musicians, theatre makers, artists from wherever they are to join a project that celebrates the ways we stick together, even as we’re apart.
During lockdown, 20 of the country’s most exciting new musical theatre creators have united – miserable, hopeful, and longing to do something that might help them and others – to collaborate for the first time in a completely unique and distanced way, and they’re asking the rest of the world to join them.
The Marathon Project will be a musical choose-your-own adventure, playable entirely online, which explores the chaos, hilarity, tragedy and ultimate triumph of refusing to give up, no matter what.
Now a few months into initial and self-funded R&D, the Marathon Project is launching today to gather more “runners” – more musicians, more makers, more remixers, coders, gamers- who might want to join them. They’re launching an initial sign-up here https://www.themarathonproject.co.uk appealing to anyone interested in contributing, joining or simply championing the project.
Ultimately, the Marathon Project hopes to celebrate the best of humanity in the face of adversity – the community, the courage, the humour – whilst taking a critical look at what happens when the rulemakers are clearly just making it up as they go along. Oh, and it’ll be set to a banging soundtrack to boot.
First scratch material will be presented remotely at the Lowry’s Musical Rewrites, on the 10th November.
