This spring Barter Theatre is presenting a dramatic adaptation by Mark Brown of the classic Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. It will run through April 19.
The play is being produced in the Barter Playhouse also known as Stage II. The six person cast includes Alice White, Richard Major, Karen Sabo, Josephine Hall, Michael Poisson and Frank Green.
The summary of this adaptation revolves around the recent discovery, in 1872, that one can travel around the world in 80 days.
The members of London’s elite Reform Club find this to be absolutely impossible, except for Phileas Fogg, played by Michael Poisson. He insists that it is very possible and the Reform Club members therefore challenge him with a bet.
Fogg agrees to accept the bet on the terms that he will have to forfeit 20,000 pounds of his fortune if he is unable to return to London in exactly 80 days.
The story then follows his many adventures as he travels around the world with his servant Passepartout, played by Karen Sabo.
What is not known to the travelers is that they are being followed by Detective Fix of the Scotland Yard, played by Richard Major.
Fogg is suspected by authorities as being a certain gentleman bank robber, so Fix is following him in the attempt to arrest him.
What follows is a series of adventures and misunderstanding that all combine together to create an incredibly funny and entertaining show.
According to director Katy Brown, Around the World in Eighty Days is “a formula for an excitement that we can all understand, because we’ve experienced a tiny taste of it ourselves.
“We, too, have traveled, really traveled, and it brought us back better for having navigated the bumps and wilds. We can only imagine what a journey of this magnitude will do to those who take it,” she said.
The production requires great versatility among the actors, as each of them are required to depict multiple characters with very different personalities.
The actor showcasing the most versatility was Frank Green. He depicted 14 different characters during the production, including a British Consul, an Indian elephant owner and an American cowboy type. His performance included various accents and many humorous interludes.
Two other very humorous additions to the cast were Richard Major, playing Detective Fix and Karen Sabo, playing Passepartout. Their dialogues throughout the production were filled with humor and they seemed to have a good dramatic chemistry.
Alice White also joined the cast depicting seven different male characters. Her mannerisms were both humorous and masterful as she depicted such characters as Gauthier Ralph, Sir Francis and Speedy.
Finally, Michael Poisson and Josephine Hall played the more serious characters of Aouda and Fogg.
The serious nature of these characters combined with the humor of the other four cast members created a well-balanced very enjoyable production.

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