Portside

Lookingglass Dives into Jules Verne's '20,000 Leagues Under the Seas'

Barbara Vitello

Daily Herald

June 7, 2018
https://www.dailyherald.com/entlife/20180607/lookingglass-dives-into-jules-vernes-20000-leagues-under-the-seas

★ ★ ★ ½

From its exquisite "Eastland: A New Musical" to the rollicking "Treasure Island" to the grand examination of obsession that was "Moby Dick," maritime tales have served Lookingglass Theatre Company well.

Now comes the company's latest oceanic-inspired effort, the visually arresting, often thrilling albeit overstuffed "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas." Adapted by David Kersnar and Steve Pickering (under the nom de plume Althos Low) from Jules Verne's titular novel and its sequel "The Mysterious Island," it is essentially a 19th-century adventure tale in which the ingenious Captain Nemo takes a pair of French academics and a Canadian harpoonist on an underwater world tour in his prototypical submarine the Nautilus.

Actually, that's a rather superficial description of the play and its morally ambiguous central character. A defender of the oppressed, fiercely opposed to colonialism, Nemo (the ever-passionate Kareem Bandealy) takes to the seas where he recognizes no law except his.

A diver from the Nautilus crew walks on the ocean floor in Lookingglass Theatre's world premiere of "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas," adapted from Jules Verne's novels. - Courtesy of Liz Lauren

"I am not a civilized man," he says. "I have broken with humanity."

But is he a hero or a villain? The help he provides to Union soldiers -- who use a hot-air balloon to escape a Confederate prison, then crash on a remote island -- suggest the former. The decades he spends in his super-submersible Nautilus -- destroying ships, murdering crews and plundering cargo -- suggest he's something else: a criminal, a killer, a terrorist whose desire for vengeance has perverted his quest for justice.

Unfortunately, Bandealy's complex, charismatic Nemo is absent for much of the largely expositional first act. Fortunately, director Kersnar is a skilled storyteller whose accomplished creative team -- including set designer Todd Rosenthal and puppet designers Blair Thomas, Tom Lee and Chris Wooten -- punctuate the talky narrative with the kind of masterful visuals for which Lookingglass is known.

An attack by the Nautilus on their U.S. warship sends harpooner Ned Land (Walter Briggs), left, Professor Morgan Aronnax (Kasey Foster) and Brigette Conseil (Lanise Antoine Shelley) into the ocean in Lookingglass Theatre's "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas." - Courtesy of Philip R. Smith

Rosenthal's massive set suggests a 19th-century frigate then transforms into a prototypical submarine (thanks to the clever use of hydraulics and Christine Binder's unnerving lighting). From its portals, characters observe exotic sea creatures (courtesy of Thomas, Lee and Wooten), including a cleverly realized giant squid, whose near fatal attack (choreographed by the great Sylvia Hernandez-DiStasi) is both frightening and humorous. Kudos to Hernandez-DiStasi, whose elegant aerial choreography makes a mini-ballet of a pearl-diving excursion.

Kersnar and Pickering tell Verne's adventure in a flashback sparked by the arrival of the stranded Union soldiers at the scuttled Nautilus, where they discover Nemo on his deathbed. Most of the action, which unfolds 16 years earlier, is narrated by renowned French professor Morgan Aronnax (Kasey Foster), whose loyal assistant is Brigette Conseil (Lanise Antoine Shelley). In Verne's novel, the academics are male. Here, in an effective, timely twist, they are experts forced by convention and insecure men to conceal their gender.

Survivors encounter the Nautilus for the first time in "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas," running through Aug. 19 at Lookingglass Theatre. - Courtesy of Liz Lauren

The U.S. Navy recruits them, along with a resolute Canadian harpoonist Ned Land (Walter Briggs), to join the crew of a warship whose mission is to eliminate whatever is destroying ships, disrupting international trade and wrecking the global economy. After their own ship falls to the Nautilus (a thrilling wreck that left me slack-jawed at Sunday's performance), Nemo holds the trio hostage while he circumnavigates the oceans.

For Morgan, the scientific discoveries the journey affords outweigh their complicity in Nemo's plundering. Not so for Ned, who wants off the submarine and back on dry land.

Lookingglass' production benefits from strong performances by the principals -- including first-rate character cameos from Thomas J. Cox, Joe Dempsey and Edwin Lee Gibson -- and tireless work by the backstage production assistants and puppeteers who get their own, well-deserved curtain call.

Kasey Foster, right, plays Professor Aronnax and Lanise Antoine Shelley plays Brigette Conseil, her counsel, confidant and savior in Lookingglass Theatre's "20,000 Leagues Under the Seas." - Courtesy of Liz Lauren

"20,000 Leagues Under the Seas" is as visually stunning as it is timely. The response of oppressed people to their oppressors and the means by which they achieve their independence remains a challenge worldwide. Indeed, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

The second act gets a bit didactic, although the fervent explanation of Bandealy's Nemo of his behavior is gripping. To its credit, the production explains but never justifies the captain's choices, leaving audience members to decide what kind of man Nemo was.

THEATER REVIEW 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (sic) 

by Jonathan Abarbanel

Windy City Times

June 6, 2018
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/THEATER-REVIEW-20000-Leagues-Under-the-Seas-sic-/63103.html
 

Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas ( plural ), first published in 1869-70, featured meticulous scientific research for its time and a rip-snorting story with secretive Capt. Nemo as the antagonist. So vivid was Nemo—the name ( with Latin/Greek roots ) didn't exist until Verne employed it—that he quickly eclipsed the intended hero and narrator of the tale, French marine biologist Prof. Pierre Aronnax.

When Nemo next appeared in Verne's 1874 follow-up, Mysterious Island, he was the central figure narrating his detailed backstory which was almost entirely missing in 20,000 Leagues. Across nearly two dozen screen adaptations ( the first a 1916 silent film ), the obviously indelible Nemo has been played by Lionel Barrymore, James Mason, Herbert Lom, Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, Patrick Stewart, Ben Cross and Jose Ferrer, among others.

For this vigorous new production, adapters David Kersnar ( also the director ) and Althos Low combine Mysterious Island and ( mostly ) 20,000 Leagues to create a complete character arc for Nemo ( intense, thoughtful Kareem Bandealy ), revealed in Mysterious Island to be of South Asian royal heritage. The major alteration is to recast Pierre Aronnax as female Prof. Morgan Aronnax ( Kasey Foster ), and ditto her assistant, Conseil ( Lanise Antoine Shelley ). In the mold of tomb-raider Lara Croft, they are fighting scientists required to use knives and fists. The sex change is handled adroitly in the new/altered text but doesn't impact the plot or final outcome at all, so the sole motive is the opportunity to make contemporary statements about mistaken perceptions ( limitations ) of women in male-dominant cultures. It may not be a distraction but it provides limited value.

This adaptation squarely is about Nemo, who is far more conflicted, outraged and complex than in other portrayals. Ideas of justice, responsibility and morality are raised frequently, along with social roles one may be required to play. Ace Canadian harpooner Ned Lane ( Walter Briggs )—a captive of Nemo's along with Aronnax and Conseil—is a rascal and rule-breaker, so it's interesting to weigh his opposition to rule-breaker Nemo. Is Nemo an archetypal supervillain who wishes to punish the world, or an avatar of a new world order? You decide.

Lookingglass' 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas offers a varied and appealing physical production involving wonderful puppets of ships and sea creatures, agile physical work by the company, some circus skills, exotic costuming, astute lighting and multi-layer scenic design. Nemo's ship, The Nautilus, is not conveyed with specific exterior or interior details so one shouldn't anticipate the literalness of the still-popular 1954 Disney film. Likewise, the attack of the giant squid ( squids in the original ) is a game-changer in the film but not in this production ( nor the novel ), although the puppet technology in both is about equal!

Location: Lookingglass Theatre Company, Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, (312) 337-0665 or lookingglasstheatre.org

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; through Aug. 19. Also 7:30 p.m. June 12 and 26; July 3, 17, 31; and Aug. 14. Additional 2 p.m. shows June 21; July 5, 12 and 26; and Aug. 9. No show July 4.

Running time: About 2 hours, 20 minutes including intermission