Globe going Around the World
So is it possible for a story that was published in 1873 about a man trying to travel around the world in 80 days to be relevant today?
For Ruth Smillie, the answer is a resounding “Yes.”
Smillie, Globe Theatre’s CEO and artistic director, is in the director’s chair for Around The World In 80 Days. The production, written by Toby Hulse, is based on the novel by Jules Verne that followed Phileas Fogg and his servant Passepartout as they attempt to win a wager by circling the globe in 80 days.
Smillie sees many similarities between the setting of the production and current day.
“In the Victorian era, where the play is set, it was not only the time of the Industrial Revolution and massive change, globalization and empire building but also the invention of so many new technologies,” said Smillie. “The narrative in this story is focused on the world suddenly getting smaller because of inventions and technology that allows people to travel around the world in 80 days. There’s so many echoes of our current society where we talk about how technology is shrinking our world, that we’re no longer nations but a global community.
“There’s many echoes in this story and production that are relevant today.”
The attempt is complicated by Fix, a Scotland Yard detective, who is convinced Fogg is a bank robber that must be apprehended. Starting in London and heading east through India, Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco and New York, the frantic journey is full of danger, surprises and even a little romance.
Given the scale of the story, the creative team is facing a massive challenge bringing the multiple locations to the Globe’s theatre in the round but Smillie is confident they’re up to the task.
“Roger Schultz is the designer and we started talking last May, I think, about how we were going to accomplish all of this,” said Smillie. “There’s an elephant in the show, there’s trains, there’s steamboats. So what I suggested to him is that we play with scale and use toys as well as human sized objects. There’s a toy train that runs around. It’s suspended from the grid. When the train is moving (in the story), this little toy train is going. We have toy steamboats, we have a toy ride ’em elephant.
“It’s really delightful and whimsical how Roger has integrated all of these transportation elements into toys . ... We’re really having fun with it.”
Another challenge for the production is that is calls for three actors to play a total of 22 different characters. Stephen Gartner, who has appeared in the Globe productions Peter And The Starcatcher and Mary Poppins, will appear as Fogg and five other characters. Jeff Irving, last seen at the Globe in The Hound of the Baskervilles, also plays six roles including Passepartout. Newcomer Crystal Chaitan has a full plate with 10 characters, including Fix.
In the original Verne story, Fix is a male character.
In this production, the character is still male but is being played by Chaitan.
“We’re really committed to gender equity and diverse casting,” explained Smillie. “The role of Fix also plays Princess Aouda. Toby Hulse, the creator of this piece, has sort a bit of dumb joke about a man playing a woman so I decided to turn that one upside down and having a woman playing a man and Princess Aouda.
“Crystal is amazing. She’s got more costume changes than anyone else. It’s just incredible the number of times she has to change, the number of characters she plays and all the dialects she’s had to master. She’s an exceptional young artist.”
While Smillie’s duties as Globe CEO and artistic director are important to her, she values the opportunities to participate in a production as a director. It would be safe to say that directing puts a bounce in her step and a twinkle in her eye.
“I adore directing. It’s the air I need to breath. I just love it. I love being in the rehearsal hall,” said Smillie. “It fulfils a really deep longing to create and to be present in your own imagination and in the world of creation. I just love it. Not to be flippant about it but people are born with certain desires, traits and skills and I think some people have an innate need to create and I’m one of those people.”
Joining Smillie and Schultz on the creative team are: Louise Guinand, lighting designer; Gilles Zolty, composer/sound designer; Ryland Alexander, fight director; Pamela Haig Bartley, assistant director; Anne Taylor, stage manager; and, Erin Valentine, apprentice stage manager.