07.May.2010 Indiana Public Radio’s Bill Liston review AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
[402 words; about 2:45
[4 May 2010; [broadcast 6 May 2010
AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS AT IRT
By BILL LISTON
For INDIANA PUBLIC RADIO
Around the World in 80 Days opened on the main stage of the Indiana Repertory Theatre last Friday night, and it was a busy night for the five actors who did all the work.
Everyone of a certain age, I suppose, knows the plot. In 1862, Phileas Fogg bets some of his friends in the Reform Club in London that he can travel around the world in 80 days, and off he goes, accompanied only by his manservant Passepartout. The story comes from Jules Verne’s novel of the same name, published in 1872, and the tale was made even more famous by the film of 1956 starring David Niven.
Truth to tell, there isn’t much of a play, in the traditional sense: there is little if any characterization, and the whole plot depends on whether or not Fogg will surmount all the problems, foreseen and unforeseen, that he encounters. You’re safe in believing that he will win his bet.
The stage is bare, with a floor of red and tan wood. Sometimes it looks like a rich carpet, and at other times it looks the deck of a sailing ship. In a sense there is no set, and that’s the fun of the play. The actors have to make it up as they go, transforming it from the Reform club to Fogg’s house to various ships, trains, elephants, and strange cities as they go. Thanks to scenic designer Kevin Depinet, all the illusions work.
Jeff Cummings, a veteran of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and many other theatres, does an excellent job in the role of Phileas Fogg, a real British gentleman of the Victorian era. Much of the fun of the play is seeing others of the cast coming back time after time in new roles, but always clear in their functions. One of these is John Lister, a graduate of Ball State University, who goes along on the whole trip as Detective Fix, but he doubles as other characters when a stout and sturdy man is needed. All the cast-members are Chicago actors and new to the IRT, and you will hope that they come back.
Mark Brown is the playwright who adapted Jules Verne’s novel, and William Brown is the director; they both do good work.
Around the World in 80 Days continues on the main stage of the Indiana Repertory Theatre through May 16th. Call (317) 635-5252 for ticket information.
–For Indiana Public Radio, I’m Bill Liston
