Around the World in 80 Days

The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre opens its season this week with the recent stage adaptation of Jules Verne’s Around the World In 80 Days by American playwright Mark Brown. The play, which debuted with the Utah Shakespearian Festival in 2001, has some 36 characters being portrayed by five actors, and the adaptation has been hailed as a clever modern comedy, cleverly spun from the late 19th century adventure novel. That novel found protagonist Phileas Fogg and his French valet Passepartout rushing around the world on a very expensive bet that they couldn’t do it in only 80 days.