This year’s upper school fall play, “Around the World in 80 Days,” took audiences on a fun, globe-hopping adventure that made use of some very creative casting, acting and set design. Staged “in the round” – with the action at the center of the theater, seating the audience on four sides – the play retold Jules Verne’s classic tale of Phileas Fogg, the British explorer who wagers he can circumnavigate the known world in no more than 80 days.

In keeping with the Harker Conservatory’s mission to offer its students an expansive range of challenges and growth opportunities, each cast member played at least two roles, which required actors to portray multiple characters with varying personalities and dialects.

The circular stage, designed by Paul Vallerga, symbolized the play’s theme of global travel and featured a rotating sub-section that was manipulated by pulling on ropes placed on the stage.