REVIEW | Around the World in 80 Days, Barn Theatre
★★★★.5
Reviewer - Eliott
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review.
CONTENT WARNING: Around the World in 80 Days contains haze and loud noises.
From the Director of Ben Hur, The Hound of The Baskervilles, and The 39 Steps, some of The Barn's previous hysterical larks, Joseph O'Malley makes a triumphant return to the quaint 200 capacity seater in the heart of Cirencester for his strongest outing yet, as we are introduced to Phileas Fogg, Passpartout, and Fix of The Yard, and taken on a journey that will see these three trepid explorers travel Around The World in 80 Days.
As soon as you enter the theatre's auditorium, a large vault set piece comes into focus across the centre of the stage, and instantly we are transported back to the 1800s thanks to Mike Leopold's design, which is some of the most impressive artistry I've seen in any show of recent.
There was a model box on display in the foyer beforehand which excited a lot of the younger audiences, but to see it on stage in its full scale, it's a hugely impressive feat and one to marvel on throughout the whole show. Against Adam Foley's atmospheric Lighting, most enjoyable during sequences on trains and steamers, and Sam Glossop's Composition and Sound Design, the whole technical side of this production deserve huge recognition, and could easily be on par alongside any London theatre right now.
Toby Hulse's sculpting of this story for The Barn's intimate stage provides slickness and wit in the writing. The jokes, visually and verbally, landed with every beat towards the audience, and it's so nice to hear smart quips when so often these days we are subjected to smutty jokes; here, the whole show feels fully family friendly, and the script really flies by without a watches glance, cramming in a lot of adventure. Placards indicated days past since Phileas' outrageous bet provides good humour, with Chris Cleal also in charge of AV Design, that charts our travellers journey across the globe, with some clever use of projection that made me feel very giddy and excited for what was going to turn out to be the most joyous two hours in a theatre.
For a cast of three to handle so much text and physical stamina in a production that's just shy of the two hours, Evangeline Dickson (Fix), James El-Sharawy (Passepartout) and Adam Elliott (Phileas Fogg) are all transfixing in their roles. With so much action thrown into the script, having the performers narrate parts of the journey out to the audience, really giving us eye contact throughout, reeled us into the story and maked us feel as though we were travelling along with them; If you've seen any of The Barn's previous shows, you may have been roped into a few interactions along the way, and there's no difference here, but saying anything more may give away the illusion of suprise. I would also be particularly interested in knowing how many steps James El-Sharawy takes during a single performance of this outing as Passpartout, as their complicated performance track sees them charging off from one side of the stage to the other, miraculously appearing within seconds, with not a speck of sweat in sight from his brow.
There's real chemistry between this company, who bounce off eachother very well, and seem to really enjoy what they do on stage, even handling mishaps very well, as judged by what sounded like a misfortunate collision in the wing; whilst we could hear commotion and chatter for the last portion of the show from the wing, and dialogue on stage was slowed and might have been improvised, none of this could take away the enjoyment of the piece.
As a whole, Around The World in 80 Days is a slick, entertaining adventure that will leave your sides aching from laughter sustained by the shows writing, direction, and misfortunes. As expressed during the interval, we would return to this production in a heartbeat to see it again, and for the first time in any of my visits to The Barn, I think that might very well be the case.
Around the World in 80 Days is performing at the Barn Theatre until 11 March.
