Wow. Take a breath… prepare to be humbled by a surfeit of inventiveness and ingenuity… in a venue the performer admitted he wasn’t initially happy with! It’s a wonderful tribute to, a celebration of – using many of the same techniques employed by – French cinema pioneer Georges Melies. Born in Paris just before Christmas in 1861, he’s what might today be described as an early adopter of the then burgeoning film technology. He was also a magician, actor and toymaker – in common with today’s creator and performer Thaddeus Phillips. With an understanding of perspective, props, effects and an appreciation of the camera’s possibilities he created hundreds of films, A Trip To The Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904) both having stood the test of time to the extent they inspired – and were liberally used in – music videos by the likes of Queen and The Smashing Pumpkins.
There’s no dialogue in today’s show, save for when Phillips joins us in the queue to show a small animation book illustrating the moon; the eyes, nose and mouth apparently that of Georges himself. The show is created with two cameras, a pile of toys and figurines from back in the day and a small smoke machine. These sit upon a lectern in the fabulously strange surroundings of the Anatomy Theatre beneath a screen on which the action is displayed. It’s an immersive experience; concentration is required to observe what Phillips is doing with the props and cameras and the results on the screen. We are taken on Mieles’s voyage (loosely resembling Jules Verne’s famous tome) as he’s pursued by an eviction official hell-bent on ensuring he vacates his tiny toy store on Montparnasse railway station. The box beneath the lectern rotates, functioning as several different sets and the story is told via a combination of these, some magic and some toys that spring to life. Many complexities and technicalities are involved, possibly the chief of which is it looked downright fiddly. What a charming, emotional, uplifting feat, an incredible tribute to a hugely significant protagonist of the moving picture that many of us had never heard of until today.
Running August 6th – 31st (not 17th or 24th) https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/around-the-world-in-80-toys
Reviewer: Roger Jacobs
Reviewed: 12th August 2026
North West End UK / Theatre Muse UK Rating:
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