Many stage productions are based on real historical events, and many of them not only bring to life the stories that happened, but make them even more compelling as well. Unfortunately, A Real Race Around the World, which is directed by David Hovatter, is not one of them. Even though this production has great source material, the story presented falls far short of the event's significance in history itself.
In 1889, Nellie Bly, a reporter for the New York World newspaper, sets out on an important journey. On this trip, she is not just visiting other countries but is trying to break the record set by Jules Verne's fictional character, Phileas Fogg, who travelled around the world in 80 days. However, things are even more challenging than she imagined. At another newspaper office, another female reporter, Elizabeth Bisland, receives the same assignment and strives to achieve her goal faster than Nellie Bly to get the headlines.
The staging is simple, with only eight wooden chairs on stage in addition to two ceiling lamps, and most of the scenes and the details require the audience to visualise them. There are 10 songs in the show (Yousef Sheikh-Warak and Mike Wyer) in addition to the live music that is often used to set the mood. These songs are music from the 1930s, with rewritten lyrics to pre-existing tunes. However, while the melodies are enjoyable and catchy, most of them do not serve to advance the plot and express a rather one-dimensional mood.
The most unfortunate aspect of this production is the script. What is presented at the moment is more like a short and superficial debriefing than a complete story. While it is the two women travelling around the world as the central characters, a large portion of the show is devoted to showing the concern and anxiety of the people at the newspaper office about the journey of the two. Even when Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland make an appearance, there is rarely any in-depth showing of the experiences they have during their journeys. Often, the lands they pass through are brought up in a few sentences.
Not only is there a lack of content on the journey, but there is little room for characterisation in the script, even though both women in history have many qualities and experiences that deserve to be seen. Nellie Bly lost her father at a very young age to a stepfather who was not only an alcoholic, but also abusive. In this environment, she not only supported her mother but also gradually earned herself a job as a journalist, writing numerous articles exposing social issues. Elizabeth Bisland was born into a family of little wealth. Her mother's insistence on literature gave her a love of writing and fostered her beautiful writing style. However, such important backgrounds are completely unrepresented in this play. Even though the actors are working hard to build this story, it is hardly possible for them to create any three-dimensional characters when there are huge voids in the script. In addition, while the play tries to present this story with an all-female cast, it still has two male musicians playing roles that could have been given to the actresses entirely, and it, therefore, drowns out this idea of emphasising feminine power.
It's in fact evident in the programme that the director has done research into the background of this story, although this has not been presented in the production. Whether it is using more room to show the detailed experiences of the two women on their journey, digging deeper into their backgrounds, or giving them more opportunities to interact with each other, it would have made this production much more engaging. With such a significant subject matter, it's a pity that only the current work has been created from it.
A Real Race Around the World runs at The Questors Theatre until 22nd February 2025.
★★☆☆☆ (2*)
Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Paula Robinson
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