By Jamil Oakford/se news editor
An adventurous classic that spans the whole world is coming to the C.A. Roberson Theatre on SE Campus.
Around the World in 80 Days, adapted from Jules Verne’s book to stage by Laura Eason, opens Oct. 15.
“It’s a quest,” said Kaitlyn McGehee, who plays 12 characters.
It’s a story about Phileas Fogg and his French valet Passepartout crossing the world in 80 days trying to win a gentlemen’s wager of £20,000.
The cast wasn’t just excited to bring this play to life but to capture the required movement of the play.
“There’s a lot of physicality,” said Braden Zeissig, who portrays Phileas Fogg.
The actors have to mime bumps on the train and the swaying of a ship on rough waters.
Through all their excitement about the intricate fight scenes and the overall physicality of the play, the actors found some elements of bringing their characters to life a little difficult.
“My characters use Standard English, New York/New England, Italian and High British accents,” said Brenna Booker, who plays 10 different characters. “It’s been hard because I tend to go toward Cockney. It sounds more natural.”
McGehee had the opposite effect. Instead of High British, she has a character that speaks Cockney.
“My Cockney accent turns into a country accent, and my Indian accent turns into a German one,” she said.
And for Passepartout’s actor, Raymond Ruffin, his accent is something he’s most proud of in this production.
“I started from zero, and I’m still working on it,” he said. “I can sing the French national anthem.”
McGehee and Booker are both playing more than a handful of characters, and a great deal of them are men.
“Seven of 12 of my characters are men,” McGehee said. “I flail and I speak with my hands, so I’m trying to get out of that so I can have the male characters more grounded.”
Booker has only one female character and explained that one speaks Italian.
The actors are excited to bring a sense of adventure to the audience.
“They’ll get to see an 80-day adventure condensed into two hours. It’s going to be fun to bring them on board,” Ruffin said.
The play runs 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15-18 with a 1:30 p.m. matinee Oct. 17. Tickets are $6 for general public, $3 for seniors and non-TCC students and free for TCC students, faculty and staff. For reservations, contact the box office at 817-515-3599.
