The 39 Steps

Having just seen the movie I thought I knew what I was getting myself in to. Happily I could not have been more wrong. I was a little curious why the show was described as a comedy for while the film had a number of funny situations, it was clearly a Hitchcock thriller, dominated by suspense. Within the first minute I knew this was going to be something completely different. Like the movie the play opens with an act at the theatre featuring Mr. Memory and his amazing feats of memory recall. While all the words in the scene were identical to those in the movie, their delivery could not have been more different as the actors poked fun at their highly scripted, overly formal interactions. Then the Russian spy showed up with the most most exaggerated Russian accent I have ever heard and I knew that none of the characters were to be taken seriously. The play stuck to the script of the movie but had an entirely different interpretation of everything. The lines were pretty much verbatim but they were delivered so differently it was like something else entirely was being said.

It became clear early on that there were only going to be four actors in the entire play. One played the lead, Mr. Hannley while the single girl actor in the production played his love interest (as well as a Russian spy and scottish farm wife). The other two actors played every single other character - both male and female. I have never seen anything like it. The actors were marvelous at switching between characters, altering their mannerism and speech perfectly. However the audience was constantly made aware of the fact that they were doing so as character changes often occurred on stage - sometimes even mid sentence with the switch of a hat.

Like the cast the the set was minimal and many times the actor's interaction with the space was what really made it seem plausible. I think the best scene in the play was where Mr. Hannely has become a fugitive of the law and is heading up to Scotland. The train consisted of a series of luggage trunks on stage. The actors though helped to create the space of the train and its numerous compartments by miming all their interactions with the doors and windows of the train. Then the whole time they were on the train they moved as if they were being jostled by the train and every time the train started or stopped they acted out the change by leaning in unison. They did an expert job at appearing to be on a moving train. I was quite amazed at how they were able to bring the luggage alive as train compartments and then suddenly into the train roof as Mr. Hannely seeks to evade the police. Other favorites of their ingenuity included one of the actors playing all the obstacles of the Scottish highlands that Mr. Hannely and Pamela must navigate while handcuffed together and Mrs. Jordan leading Mr. Hannely through a series of rooms by manipulating a doorway around the stage.

I was blown away by the play. After seeing the Hitchcock movie it was amazing to see the same lines and actions being delivered to produce such a drastically different result. The constant ingenuity amazed me as chairs became cars and ladders became bridges. It was amazing how little was needed to create the scenes, the absurdity of four chairs becoming a car adding to the comedy of it all. Everything was exaggerated for comical effect and the actors were hilarious, with their various role changes obvious, just another part of the show. It was amazing how much was done with so little.

Lauralyn Curry-Leech