The novel celebrated the technological advances of the industrial revolution. Whilst it was inevitable, it is ironic that these advancements led to the decline in the number of places, tribes, and lands to be discovered. The advent of the internet and commercial flights made the world even smaller. Verne underlined the importance of the perpetual growth of technology and how it impacts the way we view the world. The advancement of technology and the advent of the industrial revolution made the seemingly impossible possible. Packaged as a typical period adventure novel, the novel aims to underline how the world is slowly becoming much smaller. Despite this seemingly simple premise, Verne’s visionary writing and intricate research were spectacularly exemplified.Īround the World in Eighty Days is more than just an adventure novel propped with some details of mystery and suspense. In Around the World in Eighty Days, Verne threaded a very quotidian premise – an adventure novel that explores possibility of travelling around the world in eighty days. His expansive 54-book Voyages extraordinaires (The Extraordinary Voyages) series is a testament to his extensive research. Jules Verne is widely regarded as one of the pillars of travel writing. Will Fogg and Passepartout succeed in their quest? Will Detective Fix stymie their progress? From London to Suez Canal, to India, to Japan, to the United States, the peripatetic narrative that takes the readers across the globe. As Detective Fix was unable to obtain a warrant of arrest in time, he was forced to go along with the journey, keeping a tab on the duo. Hot on the duo’s heels is Detective Fix, a Scotland Yard detective who was dispatched from London to capture a bank robber whose profile matched that of the reclusive Fogg’s. “He lived alone, and, so to speak, outside of every social relation and as he knew that in this world account must be taken of friction, and that friction retards, he never rubbed against anybody.” ~ Jules Verne, Around the World in Eighty Days With careful calculation, the duo endeavors to complete the task on or before December 21. Fogg leads a life dictated by mathematical precision so at exactly 8:45 PM on October 2, he and Passepartout departed from London. Passepartout’s predecessor was dismissed for bringing Fogg a shaving water at 84 degrees Fahrenheit, two degrees lower than Fogg’s requirement. In exchange for successfully circumnavigating the world in 80 days, Fogg will receive £20,000 as a reward.Īccompanying Fogg in his adventure is his newly employed French valet, Jean Passepartout. The story originates in London and begun when Fogg accepted the wager. Initially published in French in 1872, it is the eleventh book in Verne’s expansive and extensive Voyages extraordinaires (The Extraordinary Voyages) series. Phileas Fogg’s adventure was charted in French writer Jules Verne’s ever-popular work, Around the World in Eighty Days. The task is no easy feat – circumnavigating the world in eighty days. In living up to the spirit of this axiom, Phileas Fogg, the quintessence of an English gentleman, took up the challenge issued by Reform Club of London. It is a mantra that we repeatedly encounter in our quotidian lives. But the positive spirit ripples to other aspects of life as well. The uplifting roar of “you can do it, you can do it” reverberates through the halls of competitions. Then at Hull Truck, 4–20 May.“ What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve,” goes the timeless adage. She is a highlight in a long but always joyful production.Īt Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, until 29 April. She is a clownish fall guy, a blank-faced Buster Keaton, ever optimistic despite the narrow escapes – and very funny with it. In this, Miriam O’Brien does a superb job. To offset Fogg’s coldness, we turn to Passepartout, his hapless valet, to let us see this extraordinary adventure for what it is. His 80-day trek teaches him he is not the centre of the universe, a lesson reinforced by an ever-patient Saba Shiraz as Mrs Aouda, his future wife, quietly determined to snap him out of his isolation. Like his compatriots, he is a man who chooses order and familiarity over engagement with the world. The audience joins in on a game of make-believe as we journey from Brindisi to Suez and beyond, delighting in the stage tricks that make the fantasy possible.Įason’s script wears its politics lightly, but it makes a connection between Fogg’s machine-like punctuality and the indifference of empire. Louie Whitemore’s revolving stage is largely bare but for the eight-strong ensemble emulating everything from framed portraits to steam engines, under the excellent movement direction of Jess Williams. Photograph: Chris PayneĪll this is wittily represented in a production by Hal Chambers that revels in the spirit of invention. Around the World in 80 Days at the Theatre by the Lake.
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