Women race ‘Around the World’ in 19th century adventure
In 1889, two female journalists took trains, steamships and rickshaws around the globe to beat Phileas Fogg’s 80-day record. “Around the World in (Less Than) 80 Days: The True Adventures of Elizabeth Bisland and Nellie Bly” recounts that race beginning Friday, May 25. The original show marks the end of Mother Road Theatre Co.’s 10th season.
Artistic director Julia Thudium recently stumbled across a book about the Victorian Age event. Thudium, Kelsey Ann O’Keefe and company members penned a script.
“We had never heard this story,” said Mother Road’s Jessica Quindlen. “We were intrigued by this idea of extraordinary women from history — like (the movie) ‘Hidden Figures.’”
The 2016 film told the story of three African-American women at NASA who served as the brains behind John Glenn’s launch into orbit.
The famous reporter Nellie Bly worked for the New York World, where she once posed as a mental patient for an exposé. She wanted to shatter the record of Jules Verne’s protagonist Fogg, turning his fictional “Around the World in 80 Days” into fact.
“Nellie Bly was very gung-ho about the trip,” Quindlen said. “She had pitched it to the World a year before.”
Bisland was a poet who worked for Cosmopolitan.
“She was very much more reserved, did her byline and read her books,” Quindlen said. “Her editor read about Nellie Bly and said, ‘You’re going to race her.’ She said, ‘No, I’m having a dinner party.’”
The editor prevailed and Bisland headed west. Bly headed east.
“Nellie didn’t know Bisland was doing this until she was about halfway through,” Quindlen said.
“A lot of the headlines were, how could they possibly do this without a man?” she continued. “A lot of (the play) is them fighting the stereotype of the time.”
Bisland fell in love with travel, especially with Great Britain, “because at the time, they owned everything,” Quindlen said.
“Nellie hated travel and came home the most devoted patriot.”
At first, Nellie’s editor turned her down.
“She said, OK, send a man and I’ll beat him,” Quindlen said. “She was a very determined woman.
“They were both very similar,” she added. “They were both buried not far away from each other in New York.”
The play runs through June 10.