Tilted Wig (Murder, Margaret, and Me; Lady Chatterley’s Lover; The Picture of Dorian Gray) have announced the cast of their tour of Around the World in 80 Days, in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, adapted and directed by Juliet Forster (Cinderella, York Theatre Royal; The YorkRadio Mystery Plays, BBC Radio and York Theatre Royal). Circus meets theatre in Around the World in 80 Days, a brand-new adaptation of Jules Verne’s iconic story, set to tour the UK from February – July 2023.
Each member of the cast will multi-roll as a rag-tag band of travelling circus performers that embark on a daring mission to recreate Phileas Fogg’s race around the world. Alex Phelps (As You Like It, Shakespeare’s Globe/CBeebies; When Darkness Falls, Park Theatre/UK Tour; Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre) will be playing the determined Ringmaster, Phileas Fogg. Taking on the role of the Acrobat, Nellie Bly, is actor and puppeteer Katriona Brown (There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom and Other Stories, Little Angel Theatre; Chum-o-logues, Southwark Playhouse).
Genevieve Sabherwal (My Grandma’s a Walrus, Southwark Playhouse; Speed Dial, Pleasance; Spooky Ship, Bristol Old Vic) will be performing as the Aouda, The Trick Rider. Wilson Benedito (50 Ways to Kill Your Lover, Amazon; Alan Carr’s New Year Specstacular, Channel 4) provides comedic relief as The Clown, Passepartout. Rounding off the cast as the sharp-witted Knife Thrower, Detective Fix, is Eddie Mann (Rocketman, Paramount; Macbeth, Three Inch Fools; Back to The Future, Secret Cinema).
Juliet Forster, creative director of The York Theatre Royal and director of Around the World in 80 Days, comments, I was amazed that we generally know more about Jules Verne’s fictional characters than we do about the real woman, Nellie Bly, who set the record for circumnavigating the globe in 1889 (and did the journey in less time…) I knew I had to tell her story. I found that this approach allowed interesting themes to emerge around whose stories get told, whose stories dominate and who should stand aside to give space to the untoldones.
Jules Verne’s original characters are transformed in Forster’s adaptation, embracing different modes of transport as they journey across the globe. Audiences can join the Ringmaster, the Acrobat, the Clown, the Trick Rider, and the Knife Thrower on their frantic race to travel Around the World in 80 Days.
Tilted Wig Productions was formed in 2017 by Katherine Senior and Matthew Parish, who have over fifteen years of experience producing and touring plays throughout the UK, taking over 20 productions out on the road. Their shows now tour around some of the biggest theatres in the UK, yet their original ethos has always remained the same: whether Titled Wig is producing a classic play or a vibrant new adaptation, they always aim to inspire a bright and innovative creative team to take their stories UK-wide.
