Writer: Jules Verne
Adaptor: Ben Kernow
Around the World in 80 Days is a new co-production by Into Bodmin and Ha Hum Ah theatre currently taking up residence in a quiet corner of Cardinham Woods.
Ha Hum Ah is an award-winning theatre and film production company based in Cornwall. The strength of the cast hits immediately in Ben Kernow’s new adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, we are greeted by two “gentlemen” who seem to have come straight from The Fast Show and onto our woodland stage. Over-the-top, so cringe-worthy it makes you shudder but with just the right amount of engagement with the audience, you are immediately drawn in. The brilliant array of characters doesn’t stop there. No sooner have we been introduced to our protagonist, Phileas Fogg, expertly played by Ben Kernow we are treated to the brilliant Eleanor Toms second character, the hilarious and loveable Passepartout. Larry Pears completes the trio of actors bringing a mix of camp, dastardly, archetypal and absurd characters to life throughout the performance. This is an incredibly talented, if very small, ensemble and they carry the play embodying a whole host of characters throughout its two acts.
The audience, whilst finding the performance laugh-out-loud funny, seem to take a while to build a rapport with the actors. However – no doubt with the help of Pears’ Detective Fix, making his way into the audience to encourage some easy participation Kernow, Pears and Toms have us eating out of their hands by the end of act one. The clowning, mime and endearing slapstick comedy we see on stage is heightened by the playful set design by Graham Cole. A small stage piled high with deep brown suitcases not only visually puts us back in late 19th century (1872 we are informed by a nice piece of card sticking out from the top of a suitcase), but also takes us around the world with a range of simple props – a Chinese lantern, a very small palm plant, and at one point even an elephant created from the suitcases. As great as the set is, there is very little reference to the wider setting. At one point, the natural habitat is indeed used as the jungle backdrop, but for a two-week run at Cardinham Woods, I’d want a little more interaction with this most beautiful of environments.
This is a play for all the family – this reviewer watched as children sat wide-eyed at characters disappearing into suitcases, and heard a group of old friends pop a bottle of something fizzy as they laughed along with the performance. I’d highly recommend Ha Hum Ah and Into Bodmin’s co-production of Around the World in 80 Days for a night of easy entertainment, excellent acting and great writing, even if it could benefit from a slight reduction in length.
Around the World in 80 Days is at Cardinham Woods until Saturday 19 July.
Great outdoor comedy
