Jules Verne, in all of his Voyages Extraordinaire stories, sets a profoundly optimistic tone for a world in the 19th Century that was undergoing vast and rapid change. Using scientific and technological advances of the time, he puts his characters into a setting where we can be unified in the story of adventure, curiosity, and discovery, while still acknowledging the wondrously precarious position we inhabit as guests on this planet. I can think of no better time to affirm our own exceptional nature, while still right-sizing our role in the world, than now. As we wrestle with (and often push against) our own interconnectedness, as we look on with caution at the world we create, and question the future we’re creating for our children, we can afford to be reminded what the beating heart of all of these profound concerns is: Love. 

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For all his wealth, intellect, and curiosity it is love that ultimately transforms Phileas Fogg into a more grounded and capable human being. Looking more broadly, you’ll see that our cast use their talents as a love letter to the broad spectrum of humanity of which we are privileged to be a part. Seven actors, inhabiting 39 separate characters, on a jungle-gym of a set show us that humanity is a wonder worth celebrating. Laughing, crying, jumping, sliding, they weave a narrative that you can only get by being in the room with them.