ArounD the WorlD in 80 ToyS at Summerhall – Edinburgh Fringe review

Conceptually, ArounD the WorlD in 80 ToyS is a really fun, playful, and silly venture. Blending live performance with on-screen micro-cinema, creator and performer Thaddeus Phillips splices together Jules Verne’s classic adventure with the true story of pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès, the cinema legend behind A Trip to the Moon who famously ended up running a Parisian toy shop.

Phillips is a thoroughly amiable performer, fluidly flicking between in-the-room and on-screen work. At times he acts as Méliès himself, whilst at others, the legendary director is subbed in by a small figurine. Using hidden cameras, he transforms a modest collection of vintage props into a grand, globe-trotting live movie. At its best, the production operates as a charming ode to childhood imagination and early film techniques, boasting cinematography that proves hypnotic, quaint, and old-fashioned in a wonderfully endearing way.

It is not perfect: autofocus issues render live close-ups blurry or unspecific at crucial moments. More damagingly, the narrative energy decidedly wanes after the journey reaches India. As you can expect from vintage toys, some of the cultural portrayals along the global trek rely on stereotyping.

I didn’t actually count whether all 80 toys were used – or if that number was just poetic licence – but assume it is accurate. The production remains an imaginative experiment in hybrid storytelling: ultimately capturing the magic of creating an entire cinematic world out of the simplest wind-up creations.

See more reviews in our dedicated Festival guide.