Blog Entries from Around the World in 80 Days

ArtAntica coming soon to the new site

For those ArtAntica fans out there, our online magazine will be moving from it's present location at http://lookingglassmagazine.org to this new site you are now browsing in April with the release of our Around the World in 80 Days issue. At that time all the content from previous issues will also move to this site so that it can be browsed using drop down menus like those in the images section and elsewhere.

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Web Liaison

Around the World Q&A from the Hephaestus Program

We began rehearsals for Around the World this week. It is great to have Laura Eason back in the directors chair. She is quite a talent. Here is an interview with her from the Hephaestus program for those who might have missed it. Hope to see you there...

PHIL

Jules Verne’s classic story is next up on the Lookingglass main stage. We asked Ensemble member Laura Eason, who is directing her world premiere adaptation, a few questions about what she’s envisioning.

LGT: In the script our heroes visit many corners of the globe; how do you and your design team plan to represent each of these locations on stage?

LE: Lookingglass sets often have one grand gesture-- a strong piece or a single environment that basically stays fixed, and the play takes place in, on and/or around it -- like the wooden box/frame for Argonautika or the crumbling Abby of Wooden Breeks. The set for Around the World in Eighty Days will be a bit different, in that it will be constantly transforming, hopefully in surprising ways. Transformation is a common theme in the stories our company tells and Around the World is no exception -- the transformational power of love and how seeing the world through another’s eyes and experience can transform the way someone sees the world and oneself in it. To have the set reflect this idea of transformation, which is manifest in our lead character Phileas Fogg, we took inspiration from British Campaign Furniture. Campaign furniture was elegant furniture made for British military officers to take with them on military campaigns during the rise and expansion of the British Empire in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The furniture was made by the finest cabinet makers of the day and could be folded up, packed and reassembled very easily. The design of many items was ingenious -- a plain looking box could unfold almost magically into a dining table or bedroom set. Our scene design is taking a cue from this by making the centerpiece of our set a simple box that ends up being full of surprises and capable of many transformations. It is through the ever changing nature of this central set piece, and the various ways in which it is used, that will take us all around the world.

LGT: Jules Verne wrote the novel in 1873 when “the sun never set on the British Empire.” Does the script address matters of colonialism and if so, what resonance do you hope a contemporary American audience will find?

LE: The script does not address the complex issue of colonialism in the historical context. It does, however, look at some big ideas that emerge in relation to colonialism that seem to have resonance for us today. From my point of view, one aspect of the philosophy of colonialism was that the British seemed to believe that their way of life was better than other culture’s, and that they were bringing enlightenment to less advanced people by forcing their habits and interests and traditions upon them, while at the same time, devaluing native people’s habits and interests and traditions. The idea of a nation believing their way of life is better than others and actively spreading their philosophy or mode of government to other countries, while not respecting the values or history of the native culture-- sometimes through war, sometimes just through the export of goods and industry -- feels resonant to the world we live in today, especially in America. That said, the play is not overtly political and is more about characters and relationships and having a great night in the theatre than it is about making any political statements.

LGT: Your adaptation includes eight big physical numbers, each moving the plot forward in a certain way. How do you plan on creating these movement sequences with your ensemble of actors?

LE: The eight sections of the play that I am calling “big numbers” are large, crazy, fun physical adventures -- an elephant chase, the robbery of a moving train, a storm at sea, among others -- which we will develop with the cast and the design team. Some of the sequences will be actor driven and some will be set/prop/music/design driven. Obviously, we are going to be employing a very theatrical vocabulary and getting more at the feeling of the action than making a realistic depiction of it on stage. At this point, I am still developing with the show’s choreographer/movement director (ensemble member Tracy Walsh) what the physical vocabulary of the piece is going to be. We will have a week long workshop before rehearsals begin to develop some of the sequences with the cast. Tracy and I both have a lot of ideas and we will use exercises to find some things with the cast, but it will be all of us -- actors, choreographer, director, designers, dramaturgs -- playing and brainstorming the sections together as a creative team to finally come up with what the audience will see in the show. These sections are going to be a huge team effort and I’m thrilled to see what we’ll come up with