Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” is a fabulous adventure-and-romance story, full of derring-do and seemingly impossible feats. Bethesda’s Round House Theatre is producing a peppy, family-friendly version of the book, by playwright Mark Brown. Although Brown drops some of the details of the original, he faithfully reproduces the essentials of the Verne classic.
The basic premise is that, given several important world-changing events (the completion of America’s Transcontinental Railway, the opening of the Suez Canal and the completion of the Indian Railway) in 1872 — the year the play takes place — it was believed that the globe could be circumnavigated in 80 days, using a combination of steamer and rail.
The superbly orderly, wealthy Phileas Fogg (Mitchell Hebert) accepts a bet with the members of his men’s club that he can make it in that time. Fogg and his valet Passepartout (Sasha Olnick) set off for Dover and Calais, then on to Suez, where a detective named Fix (Ethan Bowen) begins to follow them, convinced that Fogg is a bank robber.
Throughout the journey, things go wrong. In India they find that a crucial part of the railway has not been constructed. But Fogg bribes people, and buys land and water conveyances — from an elephant to a snow sled — to keep himself and Passepartout on schedule. Nevertheless, he goes out of his way to rescue an Indian princess, Aouda (Tuyet Thi Pham), who is about to be sacrificed in a suttee. He is an Englishman, a man of duty, after all.
When Fogg, Passepartout and Aouda finally reach America, they deal with snow on the plains, a collapsing railroad bridge and attacking Indians. But the unflappable Fogg is equal to every challenge, and the trio keeps going.
If you go
‘Around the World in 80 Days’
Where: Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; through May 30
Info: $25 to $60, discounts for children and senior citizens available; 240-644-1100; roundhousetheatre.org
Director Nick Olcott keeps Fogg’s excursion travelling at a breathtaking pace, allowing Fogg to come up with solutions to his travel predicaments at a moment’s notice. But the speed of the production accounts for just some of the appeal of this “Around the World.” The main entertainment comes from watching four talented actors (only Hebert portrays one character consistently) play all the many requisite parts. Even Pham and Olnick step out of character from time to time to play other roles. Bowen is delightful as the dogged Fix. James Konicek seems able to take on any accent, any role — from Indian servant to American general to ship’s captain.
Misha Kachman’s set consists of a variety of playing areas: Above the stage is a second horizontal level used as the deck of various ships, the snow sled, the elephant, etc. Leather armchairs are brought onstage via turntable to serve as everything from the lobby of Fogg’s men’s club to railway car seats. It’s the perfect setting for a production that sets out to accomplish a lot with a little.
