The Octagon's Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham stepped in to play multiple characters in Around the World in 80 Days for three performances on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 December 2023 when three of the cast fell ill.
Swing actor Olivia Chandler stepped into the role of Fogg's butler Passepartout, local actor Jacob Butler was brought in to play undercover journalist Amit Khatri with just one rehearsal and Wakeham took on the part of Lady Eliza Sullivan and ten other characters including a farmer, a gaoler, a newspaper boy and Al Capone.
Wakeham said, “we know that a trip to the theatre is a beloved festive tradition for many families, so we didn’t want to let our audiences down and we wanted to avoid cancelling as many performances as possible. We had prepared for some illness and additional cover to keep the show going but with three of the original cast not well enough to perform we needed to go the extra mile to ensure the show went ahead.
"Liv and Jacob did a fantastic job stepping in and I’m hugely grateful to the whole team for getting me through my Octagon performing debut so smoothly. The role I took on involved multiple characters and 12 quick costume changes—it was a brilliant reminder to me of the incredible achievements of our actors and backstage team who go through this several times a week during the festive period to entertain our audiences! I’m truly in awe of everyone working on this production and the amount of care, calmness, and good humour from everyone front of house, backstage and on stage."
She added, “the original cast are now thankfully all back and feeling much better so I am hoping my performing services will not be required further!”
Around the World in 80 Days runs until 6 January 2024.