Phileas Fogg (played by Oliver Ruhl) places the crucial bet that will set in motion a race ‘Around the World in 80 Days,’ this summer’s second YSKP production showing in Yellow Springs at the Antioch Amphitheater at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, July 19 through 22. Characters in back, from left are: Emily Astor (played by Alex Thorp), Louis Albertson Standard (played by Romy Farrar) and, Chesterton Pierpont Morgan (played by Taylor Ford).

YSKP travels 'Around the World'

By Lauren Heaton

It has been nearly 135 years since Phileas Fogg took his first journey Around the World in 80 Days, and this weekend YS Kids Playhouse will modernize his world tour in a song and dance production of the play by the same name. This play’s Fogg, a Wittenburg University student played by Oliver Ruhl, has never seen so much Greek dancing, Bollywood acting, Pakistani kite flying and mistaken identity from undercover CIA agent Valerie Flame as this trip allows. But Tony Dallas’s adaptation of the 1872 Jules Verne novel collapses time and space to bring many worlds into this one contemporary fantasy showing this weekend, Thursday through Sunday, July 19–22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Antioch Amphitheater.

The story begins when Fogg and his roommate Pepe, played by Nazeer Ahmed, bet Chesterton Pierpont Morgan, played by Taylor Ford, and the preppy crowd that they can travel around the world in 80 days using only technology that was available in 1872. Along their route they enlist the help of the 100th descendent of Aristotle, played by Mara Elder, rescue an Indian bride (Nadia Sayed) who doesn’t need rescuing and encounter sophisticated dance troupes in Greece, Pakistan, Mexico and Indonesia. Fogg and Pepe are also being followed by a pair of sneaky agents, Scooter Libby (Zane Pergram) and Valerie Flame (Janelle Chamness), who believe they are aiding Barack Obama, which to the agents sounds a lot like the terrorist Osama.

As was the intention when YSKP organizers John Fleming and Lisa Hunt envisioned YSKP’s second show of the season, Fogg’s journey is meant to represent the ethnic diversity of the Springfield community. Director Kaycee Hinckley cast half Yellow Springs kids and half Springfield kids to fill the show’s 23 character roles and 20 dance roles. And she relied on Springfield choreographers of various ethnic backgrounds to design the scenes around the world. According to Hinckley, who is an Antioch College graduate involved in theater in Cincinnati, the play acts as a bridge between two communities whose youth she hopes will learn from each other.

For Pergram, 10, who lives in Yellow Springs and is starring in his first YSKP show, the experience of working with youth who speak Hindi and other languages he can’t understand was fascinating.

“It was fun during rehearsals to listen to them and try to figure out what they were saying,” he said. “And then we’d hear a word that sounded like one we knew, and we’re just sitting there looking at them like we’re an Amish guy at Radio Shack.”

The experience for Ahmed, 12, a Springfield youth, was also educational. He liked experiencing theatrical warm up exercises with YSKP, and he found it interesting that in Greece, when it comes to dancing, “everyone will join in the dance from the richest man to the poorest man.”

Yellow Springs resident Romy Farrar, who plays prep student Louis Albertson Standard, just liked playing the rich, mean kid because she got to scowl a lot and play a character she would never be in real life, she said. And all the characters, including Abby Mappes as Piper Stewart Carnegie, Alex Thorpe as Emily Astor, and Mollie Greenburg and Keanan Onfroy-Curley as newscasters, have at least one important speaking part, which according to Pergram, is a wonderful tribute to the commitment so many people make to put on a production like this one.
Stage manager Alexandra Kesman, who is currently an Antioch College student, helped coordinate the production in conjunction with Springfield Stageworks and the Springfield Arts Council’s Summer Arts Festival, which hosted a premier of the play in Springfield last weekend. Professional Hollywood costumer Donnie McFinley designed the costumes, Pierre Nagley designed the set and Beth Holyoke created the puppets.

The YSKP Summer Festival continues its series of events this weekend, beginning on Friday, July 20, with drumming at 4:30 p.m. at the Garden of the Goddess and a TAG art exhibit at 5:30 p.m. at the amphitheater. Street theater with musicians, magicians, puppeteers and belly dancers will be downtown all day Saturday, followed by the YSKP Founding Families/ Alumni Night at 5:30 at the amphitheater. Beginning at 5:30 before every show, YSKP will host a pre-show Volksgarten with music, small theater and wine and beer from the Winds Cafe.

Reservations for remaining YSKP performances can be made by calling 769-1030. For more information about the festival or the YSKP shows, visit www.yskp.org or call 360-6670.

The 2007 YSKP summer season is supported by grants from the Morgan Family Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, Culture Works, the Turner Foundation, Yellow Springs Community Council and The Antioch Company.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com