'Around the World' falls flat

By Matt Windman | amNew York theater critic

12:06 PM EDT, August 14, 2008

Evan Zes, Daniel Stewart, and Lauren Elyse McCord, in the Irish Rep's production of 'Around the World in 80 Days.' (HO)

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Irish Repertory Theatre must be writing a love letter to "The 39 Steps," Broadway's winking, small-scale send-up of Hitchcock's 1935 black-and-white thriller.

With a handful of actors playing a variety of roles and using varied props to enact a giant narrative, the much-respected Off-Broadway company has created its own "39 Steps." But instead of using Hitchcock as a launching pad for satire, it has traveled back to the adventure novels of Jules Verne.

"Around the World in 80 Days," faithfully based on the 1872 novel, follows the exacting English thrill-seeker Phileas Fogg (Daniel Stewart) and his poor French servant Passepartout (Evan Zes) as they attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days in order to win a $20,000 bet.

Whereas Orson Welles once staged the novel as a huge extravaganza, the Irish Rep uses an assortment of dialects and fancy hats. Trains and boats are concocted at the turn of a hat, but our favorite had to be the creation of an elephant by using a table, a chest, and a plopping sound effect.

Under Michael Evan Haney's direction, the five-person cast certainly works hard and maintains a high energy level. But whereas "39 Steps" is a delightful hoot, "Around the World" is neither fun nor funny.

All its repetitive slapstick humor falls painfully flat, to the point where sitting through all two hours is more difficult than any challenge ever encountered by Mr. Fogg. Good theater needs inspiration. This, however, is a useless, uninspired exercise of old-fashioned, pre-computerized stagecraft.

Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd St, 212-727-2737, $55-60. Tues 8pm, Wed 3 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 3 & 8pm, Sun 3pm. Thru Sept 28.