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A track seemed necessary for actors to portray runners in Brigham Young University's national premiere of "Chariots of Fire," a stage adaptation of the iconic movie about athletes competing for honor in the 1924 Olympics.
The story prompted designer Doug Ellis to create a track that's 84 meters long, a metal superstructure that threads through Brigham Young University's Pardoe Theatre. "It's a long enough distance for the guys to run full-out," says director Tim Threlfall, head of BYU's music, dance and theater program. "If you try to run onstage and there's not a lot of room, it's not genuine, it's not real."
The stage adaptation of the Academy Award-winning 1981 movie was produced in London during the 2012 Olympic Games, with a script by British playwright Mike Bartlett (whose speculative political thriller "King Charles III" plays through Saturday at Pioneer Theatre Company).
Director Tim Threlfall saw the London show and thought its themes about determination and religious integrity would play well at BYU. He and Jeff Martin, who directs BYU's Bravo! performing-arts series, spent five years pursuing the rights for "Chariots of Fire," now receiving its first production since its London debut.
It's the story of two British runners, Eric Liddell (Peter Lambert), a devout son of Christian missionaries, and Harold Abrahams (Alex Diaz), a Jewish student who encounters anti-Semitism. The play-with-music features Greek composer Vangelis' memorable movie score, as well as additional music he created for the stage show, and classic Gilbert and Sullivan songs.
To get in shape to deliver lines while running, actors trained with a running coach. Lambert is the nephew of Ed Eyestone, the university's track coach who is a former Olympian. Eyestone and assistant coach Mark Robinson, the son of an Olympic athlete, have reviewed the production's running scenes. (Threlfall wanted to cast Eyestone in the play, but schedules didn't permit. Eyestone has a bit of BYU stage experience, having played innkeeper General Waverly in a 2011 production of "White Christmas.")
To add to the play's immersive experience, theatergoers can select to watch the action from bleacher seats on the stage, where they'll double as Olympic race spectators.
BYU's "Chariots of Fire" features choreography mixing dance, gymnastics and running (created by Becky Wright Phillips) that nods to the slow-motion running sequences employed so memorably in the film. That kind of abstract movement might be difficult to pull off onstage, Threlfall admits. "We'll find out."
Overall, the challenges of staging new works benefit students, who get to be at the "ground level of creativity," Threlfall says. "They get to create it, and develop it, and discover it on their own." This show is part of an ongoing effort that led to BYU's 2015 student premiere of Frank Wildhorn's "The Count of Monte Cristo."
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Running for glory
Brigham Young University presents the U.S. premiere of "Chariots of Fire," with production assistance from Ed Eyestone, the university's track coach and former Olympic runner.
When • April 4-8 and 11-15 at 7:30 p.m.; 2 p.m. Saturday matinees April 8 and 15; ASL interpretation on Thursday, April 6
Where • Harris Fine Arts Center's Pardoe Theatre, BYU campus, Provo
Tickets • $8-$16, at 801-422-2981 or theater box office; information at tickets@byu.edu