Skip to main content
Around the World in 80 Days, Leeds Playhouse/Touring
Inventive adaptation of Jules Verne’s globetrotting classic sets a relentless pace
PIC CAP Nimble: Darren Kuppan (left) as Fix of the Yard Pic: David Lindsay

 

SOME books take on a life of their own that’s bigger than the author ever imagined and that’s true of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, a fast-moving adventure now synonymous with the image of a hot-air balloon.

Yet such a mode of transport is never employed in the original 1873 novel and that misconception is a running gag in Toby Hulse’s irreverent adaptation in its frequent referencing to travelling by balloon as we follow the exploits of Phileas Fogg and his manservant Passepartout.

Morning Star call for advertising
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
snow
Theatre Review / 23 December 2024
23 December 2024
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys, with minor reservations, the Northern Ballet’s revival of its 1992 classic
bloody
Theatre review / 6 March 2024
6 March 2024
SUSAN DARLINGTON revels in an exhilarating adaptation of the gruesome fairytale that invokes the real-life horror of women lost to male violence
theatre review
Theatre Review / 23 May 2023
23 May 2023
SUSAN DARLINGTON is disappointed by a show that aims to highlight misogyny within the police but fails to arrest the audience's attention
review
Gig Review / 10 April 2023
10 April 2023
SUSAN DARLINGTON revels in a band that know their own continuing relevance