Last night, I saw a local, all-white (presumably) production of the 2001 theater adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days, the 1873 Jules Verne novel. I have to say that I did enjoy the play, and was very glad that I went. There were accents and imitations done of people from around the world, which caused some eyebrow raises, but the play does call on only 5 actors to play 42 characters. No matter how diverse a cast, this play will require imitation. Thankfully, no one darkened their skin for any role.
The scenes in America were both the most amusing - think an Englishman, his French servant, and an East Indian woman encountering perfectly stereotypical white male archetypes from the 19th century - and most troubling. The latter started when the train that the three protagonists are riding is attacked by "the Apaches" and a shoot-out ensues. The Frenchman goes off to save the day with some acrobatics on the locomotive but is also kidnapped by these Apaches. Upon his rescue, he comes bounding onto stage in a giant feathered headdress.
My eyes grew wide with disappointment, but the story went on to tell how the Apaches wanted to make him their "chef" based on his acrobatics on the locomotive, which could be a justification for wearing such an important item.
There are just a few more problems:
- The tribe in the novel was the Sioux, not the Apache's. This speaks to carelessness for the diversity of Native Americans that is all to common.
- The novel is from the time the US was lying to and slaughtering Native Americans constantly. It's not going to paint a sympathetic portrait of Native Americans. This is unfortunate and perhaps unavoidable for the actual novel, but we're supposed to know better now. We shouldn't be perpetuating it.
- The mythology around Natives accepting white people as gods or their leaders does have a tiny bit of historical precedent, but it's old and tired.
