Praise for recent work - THE DISTANCE, SUMMERHALL, AUGUST 2026

“A wholly compelling hour: capturing the walking-on-air feeling of a natural-born long-distance runner hitting his stride and then [his] Icarus-like fall to earth…[He is] pounding a treadmill…but it’s no gimmick. It wordlessly communicates the sweaty investment required of his younger self and how much running came to define him – there’s a sense of him being in the room with us but also self-contained and exultantly in his own world, an impression intensified by a scaffolding frame that he clambers.”

★★★★★, The Telegraph

"He accomplishes impressively agile and strength-requiring physical feats without missing a beat of his lines, literally dangling to indicate being held in suspense. All of which would be an enjoyable visual spectacle, at least, were it not for the fact Norris also tells a very compelling and human tale, with the added poignancy of being drawn from personal experience...Directed by Julia Locascio, The Distance takes us inside the experience of driving towards physical perfection and then of finding yourself denied by chance and your body. The beauty of it is that it really feels like we’re with Chris every step of the way."

★★★★, The Scotsman

"Ben Norris’ athletic, poetic fictionalised account of the life he never got to live is moving and muscular...the form gives Julia Locascio’s production integrity: not only is the running and climbing testimony to Norris’ athleticism, but the intensity of what he’s putting himself through for us gives the work a weight and seriousness, the sense that in a way he’s putting himself through all this again in front of us. At the same time, it’s not a misery memoir, but rather a thoughtful and moving account of what it is to find your place in the world and what the cost is of starting again."

★★★★, Time Out

"Under Julia Locascio’s direction, the production never loses momentum. The pacing is immaculate, carrying the audience through triumph and disappointment with breathless urgency...Thrillingly staged, impeccably performed and emotionally resonant throughout, it crosses the finish line in magnificent style."

★★★★★, Theatre Weekly