THE Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton is promising a Christmas extravaganza for all ages when it stages ‘Around the World in 80 Days’.

The show, the theatre’s first in-house production since it re-opened two years ago, features a professional cast of seven actors and a supporting community cast of 26.

The production has been adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jules Verne and written and composed by Phil Willmott and Annemarie Thomas.

It promises terrific songs, dance routines, circus acts, the inevitable smattering of romance plus plenty of audience participation.

The audience are invited to join Phileas Fogg on trains, Chinese junks, hot air balloons, even an elephant, as he tries to circumnavigate the world in 80 days. Can the intrepid explorer, aided by comic French valet Passepartout, succeed in their mission and get home in time for Christmas? Or will his expedition be thwarted by Big Game Hunter Captain Fix, the Nizam Cannibals, mysterious Mrs Chang or trigger-happy Jesse James?

The journey takes the audience through Parisian nightclubs to the Bombay Hilton and follows the cast as they traverse the Wild West and navigate the Atlantic.

Among the cast is Derek Frood, currently playing Captain Bray in the BBC hit Poldark.

A limited number of early bird tickets are on sale until October 6 – £50 for a family of four (a saving of up to £15) or £15 for an adult ticket (a saving of up to £5). ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ runs from December 9-31.