Around the World in 80 days
As a fierce opponent of hunting I never thought I could take so much childish glee in the shooting of bird. But that one moment was definitely the highlight for me, in a show fill with so many humorous elements (you will have to go see it to understand my amusement). The show is an absolute delight for the entire family, many elements of which reminded me of a pantomime. The audience participation, ludicrously drawing them into the tale as active participants, was an unexpected pleasure. I’m always disappointed you only tend to get pantos around Christmas so to have an pantoesc adventure in August (there was even a letter to Santa) was a real treat.
The cast were a talented bunch. I read beforehand that a cast of 8 played 125 roles throughout and their rapid switching from character to character made for exciting viewing. The set and the staging was very clever, the stack of briefcases and a few judiciously placed items and cloths used throughout represented trains, boats, cabs and various other mods of transports that drew the audience into this great adventure around the world. This combined with an epic AV globe above tracking the journey above did make one feel one was surging around the planet.
As a fan of the story having read the book repeatedly, and enjoyed many adaptations in the past, I was left charmed by just how true to the book this adaptation kept. There was some artistic license to the story, a few understandable alterations from the original text, but overall it did justice to one of the great adventure stories of the 19th Century. The extra efforts made in the production, such as creating a rocking motion on the ships as scene were re-enacted on board, created such realism. It was a tribute to Verne’s great work, and I like to think he would have been as delighted with the show as I was.
If you want to be taken on an epic, but hilarious journey around the world then this definitely is the show for you. The staging makes you long to embark on a similar sort of adventure. It certainly kindled in me a desire to now follow in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg…but perhaps at a slightly more sedentary pace.