Prior to seeing the RMHS play, Around the World in Eighty Days, I interviewed the director, Mr. Endslow.
Mr. Endslow was the drama director at RMHS for twenty years, before retiring four years ago. His long and admirable career made him deserving of the Performing Arts Center's namesake being in his honor.
When asked why he chose to come back to direct this play in particular, he stated that “this play has a lot of unique and interesting characters [and is] not a play with a lot of background people [so] everybody gets a chance to have a glorious moment, where they are a major part in the spotlight.”
The most challenging part of producing the play was “representing...the whole world on this trip around the world with very...creative uses of scenery” stated Mr. Endslow. Although I was only able to catch a glimpse of the huge clock onstage, and small sets including newspapers and suitcases, I was intrigued to see how the world would be represented on one stage.
Endslow said that his favorite shows that he put on at RMHS were Les Miserables and Amadeas, along with others, but “liked every show I [he] did [at RMHS].” After my interview with Mr. Endslow, I was very excited to see Around the World in Eighty Days come to life.
The show follows Phileas Fogg, played by Matt Baynes, and his assistant, Passepartout, played by Ryan Norton, who depart on a trip around the world in eighty days. They depart on this trip to win a bet against Fogg’s colleagues that think this trip is impossible; the wager is twenty thousand pounds.
The gang travels to Suez, Egypt, Bombay, India, the Indian Jungle, where they save Aouda, played by Jane D’Entremont, from being sacrificed, amongst other destinations. Meanwhile, Detective Fix, played by Tyler D’Ambrosio, follows Fogg, believing he is the robber who stole a huge sum of money from an English Bank.
The play opens with everyone saying “around the world in eighty days," a nice introduction, but unfortunately not said in unison. However, this was the only major mishap, along with a few microphone drops.
The scenery included a huge clock that always displayed the time, 8:55, the time Fogg and Passepartout had to make it back to London to win the bet. My favorite set piece used was a large cut-out map of the world that dropped during major moments. I wish the map was used more often to highlight the stops along the voyage.
Stacked suitcases created a train, while rolling staircases and wheels positioned next to each other symbolized the steamer. Although these sets weren’t the most amazing ever used at RMHS, they successfully portrayed the cast's travels from one destination to the next.
When the characters stepped on American soil in San Francisco, red lights shined on the background to symbolize the Golden Gate bridge. Similiarly, a green light was used as an allusion to The Great Gatsby, when Fogg and his friends reached New York.
For the most part, the destinations visited were displayed successfully, but the props used were a bit too abstract and somewhat confusing.
The most disappointing prop was the elephant, composed of boxes, red and orange tarp on top, two gray umbrellas, and cylindrical gray tubes.
While the props lacked creativity, the vibrant costumes worn by Aouda made up for the disappointment. She wore a variety of unique dresses, especially her first costume, a red and golden skirt with a green shawl. Her costumes brought some color to the otherwise dreary scenes.
The dreariness was compensated by humor, as it was one of the funniest RMHS plays, besides Black Comedy in 2015. My favorite scene was when Passepartout, who gave the best performance of the night, was attacked by Indian monks in Bombay and had his shoes stolen. The scene was highly animated and received many laughs from the crowd.
Around the World in Eighty Days was a feel-good play, as the gang returns in time for the arrival date, wins the bet, and Fogg and Aouda are married. The sets were creatively designed to make the audience grasp the path of the story.
As with all RMHS performances, I wish it was less than two hours. But, I felt that Mr. Endslow succeeded in making this play unique and humorous, and gave each character a moment of fame on stage.