Silo Theatre’s end-of-year Marathon is going to be a disaster
There’s the Auckland Marathon. And then there’s Marathon. One might make you fit, the other will have you in fits - because in this race, absolutely nothing goes to plan.
From 12 November – 6 December, Silo Theatre rounds out the year with Marathon, a wildly funny take on one of the most disastrous races in sporting history. It’s also inspired by true events, which frankly makes it worse.
It’s St. Louis, 1904, and the Olympic Games are still figuring out what the heck they’re doing. Thirty-two athletes line up for the marathon, lured by the promise of glory, redemption, and a medal awarded by First Daughter Alice Roosevelt. They have no earthly idea what they’ve signed up for.
What follows is incompetence, betrayal, cheating, wild dogs, rat poison and some seriously questionable decision-making, all brought to life by six of the funniest and most anarchic performers in Aotearoa who run headfirst into the madness.
Marathon began life as a solo show by New Zealand comedian and writer Nic Sampson, first performed at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe before heading to Soho Theatre in London. Now the script has been redeveloped into a full-scale ensemble production, bringing the story to the stage on a much bigger, louder and more physical scale, with considerably more opportunities for things to go very, very badly.
Taking on the race is Fred Award winner Chris Parker, Billy T Award winners Kura Forrester and Brynley Stent, and two-time Billy T nominee Brett O’Gorman. They step up to the block with Batanai Mashingaidze (seven methods of killing kylie jenner) and Silo newcomer Brayden Cresswell.
Half of the cast were part of Silo’s 2024 hit Camping, which also came out of the comedy circuit before making the leap to selling out on the mainstage. Now they’re back, only this time there are no tents, no campfire and the substances are way less recreational.
The result is physical, fast and gloriously unhinged, like Wacky Races meets Chariots of Fire or a Mario Cart session after someone’s eaten all the mushrooms.
Directing this particular sporting catastrophe is Ben Crowder, a mad genius of the New Zealand theatre scene with 30 years of theatrical shenanigans. He makes a welcome return to Silo after directing Bad Jelly the Witch at Auckland’s Wintergarden in 2005.
“We commissioned Nic to write this play because we wanted to give Silo audiences the silliest, sweatiest night out possible, with some of the funniest people we know.” says Silo Artistic Director Sophie Henderson.
Posterboy for The Brookwood Mysteries, Billy T nominee and OG Snort member, Nic Sampson moved to the UK in 2019 and has continued to work as a comedian, actor and writer, with credits including Starstruck, Taskmaster Junior and even Paddington in Peru!
Beneath all the mayhem, Marathon has a surprisingly tender heart – a story about ambition, pride and our slightly ridiculous desire to do something extraordinary with our lives.
“I love Marathon because it’s about our obsession with trying to do something great, to prove that we’re special. But why? Does it really matter? It’s a wildly funny celebration of ambition, failure and the freedom that comes when you stop worrying about how history will remember you or your erotic vases.” Henderson added.
A play about friendship, dreams and falling short - spectacularly - Marathon celebrates the losers, the cheats and the people history remembers for all the wrong reasons.
Get set. Book fast.
The Milford Asset Management Season of
MARATHON
12 November – 6 December 2026
Q Theatre, Rangatira
Tue–Fri: 7pm
Sat: 2pm & 7pm
Sun: 5pm
