Chariots of Fire: Sheffield theatre turned into Olympic stadium for stage version of award-winning film

Along with whether the magic of a film with four oscars could ever be replicated on stage, being another big one.

Forgive the pun, but this Sheffield Theatres production hit the ground running with a gym workout scene for which the cast members must have been in training!

If there was ever going to be the perfect time to launch a stage adaptation of the 1981 film, this was it – the 100th anniversary of the real life events upon which it was based.

It was Paris 1924 when the names of Eric Liddell (played by Adam Bregman) and Harold Abrahams (Michael Wallace) became etched in the annals of Olympic history: Eric, who ran for the glory of God and Harold, who ran to overcome prejudice.

This summer will see the Olympics return to the French capital, where the two runners central to the real life storyline both came away with gold medals, but at a time where athletics was much different to today.

The production making its debut in Sheffield this month and which runs until July 27, rewinds the clock from today’s high tech era to a time before the birth of professional sport and endorsement deals, where all you needed was a plain white kit, leather running shoes, natural talent and desire.

The clever use of treadmills, lighting and carefully choreographed slow motion style running sequences were all used to good effect, but also mixed up with scenes involving cast members running around the stage on a revolving stage floor as well as around the auditorium.

It wouldn’t have been a production about the Olympic Games without it being centred around scenes of sport but beyond the race for gold the production also tackles themes of prejudice, friendship and religion.

Despite the heavy topics explored, this production is also awash with humour, with the audience regularly laughing out loud.

When you add to that, feelings of nostalgia and patriotism, then you have a perfect blend.

Productions by Sheffield Theatres have enjoyed huge success over the years (think Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Standing at the Sky’s Edge). Whether this one will end up on a nationwide run and make it over the finishing line to the West End remains to be seen but Thursday’s performance was met with a standing ovation – and if history is anything to go by, the Steel City tends to know a success when it sees one.