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Around the World in 80 Days (2009) >
Amador Ledger-Dispatch|Sacramento News and Review
Stampeding elephants! Raging typhoons! Runaway trains! Unabashedly high-spirited fun! This globe-trotting epic is the original Amazing Race. Fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg has agreed to an outrageous wager that puts his life and fortune at risk. With his loyal French manservant, Passepartout, by his side, Fogg sets off to circumnavigate the globe in a mere 80 days. To complicate matters, the bumbling, inept lawman, Detective Fix, has mistaken Fogg for a notorious bank robber and tenaciously dogs Fogg’s footsteps around the globe. The tension builds as danger, romance, and hilarious surprises abound in this whirlwind, family fare adventure across seven continents.
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Amador Ledger-Dispatch
'World' actors deliver tight performance, clever comedy
By Gwen Johnson, Amador Ledger-Dispatch
(8.14.09) It starts in England in 1872 as a bet between the extremely orderly gentleman Phileas Fogg (Ron Adams) and his whist mates (Benjamin T. Ismail, Scott Divine and Michael RJ Campbell) at London's Reform Club.
In the midst of a conversation about the speed at which world travel is now possible, Fogg contends that he can make the journey around the globe via boat and train in 80 days. His skeptical friends say it's impossible. By the time the whist game is finished, a 20,000 pound wager is on and the characters of Main Street Theatre Works' production of "Around the World in 80 Day's begin their adventure.
The cast is comprised of only five actors (Adams, Ismail, Divine, Campbell and Julie Anchor). Each one morphs with split-second timing into various characters with different costumes, personalities and multi-cultural accents.
Director Allen Pontes deserves a huge amount of credit for orchestrating such a disciplined performance. The tightness among the characters is incredible. The banter, gesticulations, and interactive movements have all been well rehearsed and choreographed. The only beats missed come during the train ride scenes. If all the riders are on the same trip, their knee and head bobs should be synchronized - a very minor detail and surely not one that detracts from the overall enjoyment of the play.
What makes the play particularly humorous are the subtleties in the actors' facial expressions, hand movements, and body language. Nothing was overdramatized; there was just enough farce to make it funny without overdoing it.
Campbell has a knack for using his eyes as comedic tools, whether he's center stage delivering his lines or in the background quietly serving port and opium in Hong Kong. When he's playing the role of Mudge the sledge driver, his tongue wags as if he were one of the dogs guiding the vessel.
Ismail is also a master of physical comedy. Most of his time on stage is spent playing the role of Fogg's French valet Passepartout, a dedicated manservant devoted to performing his job dutifully. But as one unfortunate event after another causes him to beg forgiveness from his master, Ismail displays the full range of emotions with comedic flair, whether he's accosted by Indian priests, uncovering the secrete motive behind the curious behavior of Mr. Detectamafix, or rescuing a train from warring Apaches.
Although all of the actors transition wonderfully between one transcontinental character and another, Divine has the best accents, especially in his roles during the group's journey into the East Indies. Not only does he get the dialect just right, his head twists and body movements make him a flavorful spice that pairs well with a good chuckle.
Adams, playing the main character Phileas Fogg, is so convincing as a proper English gentleman, that he'll make you wish you had brought tea and crumpets for your dinner's twilight picnic. Always honorable, astute and dignified, Adams is the only actor who has but one character to play the entire evening, and he plays it well - very well.
I sensed that actress Julie Anchor (James Forster, Newspaperman, Priest, and Auoda), struggled slightly to project her voice, and her accent slipped a little when she was playing the role of Indian maiden Auoda. But she still delivered a very energetic performance, especially as the enthusiastic British newspaper herald who broadcasts the headlines of the day in the first act.
Everyone behind the scenes deserves a big "bravo" as well. The set design, construction, costumes, lighting and props were understated yet extremely effective. One simple wooden table is turned over time and again to serve as a boat, train, judge's podium and elephant. Scenery panels rotated to become maps, newspaper pages, or portions of the clear, blue sky. Wooden cubes transformed into chairs, a Hindu temple, and a ship's wheel.
Around the World in 80 Days, written by Mark Brown and based on the book by Jules Verne, is an enjoyable comedy that audiences of any age will enjoy. The play runs through Sept. 5. Tickets are $16 for general admission, $12 for students 18 and under. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. for picnicking. Show starts at 8 p.m. Visit www.mstw.org for more information.
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Sacramento News and Review
Around the World in 80 Days
By Jeff Hudson, Sacramento News and Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
(8.14.09) Five busy actors create a galaxy of characters in this fast-moving adventure, based on the Jules Verne novel. A superior show, with a mix of Equity and non-Equity actors. F, Sa 8pm (gates open at 6:30pm). Through 9/5. $12-$16. Main Street Theatre Works at the Kennedy Mine Amphitheatre on North Main St. in Jackson, Amador County; (209) 267-5680 to charge by phone, www.mstw.org.
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