Review: THE 39 STEPS at Actors Theater Of Louisville

Zuzanna Szadkowsk, David Ryan Smith, Carter Gill, and Jesse J. Perez in THE 39 STEPS, 2016. Photo by Bill Brymer.

The 39 Steps

By Taylor Clemons

Entire contents copyright © 2016 Taylor Clemons. All rights reserved.

Actors Theatre of Louisville has officially kicked off it's 2016-17 season with the Alfred Hitchcock spoofing/send up favorite, The 39 Steps. As the lights dimmed in the Pamela Brown Auditorium the mood was immediately set with a clever opening sequence reminiscent of a classic thriller's title credits. At this point I was very excited to see their homage to the films of the master of suspense.

To those who may not know, the show is very much a chamber piece. Three of the four actors play various roles throughout the show with two of the three changing into completely new personalities at rapid pace. At the start of our story we are introduced to our main character Richard Hannay (David Ryan Smith). He has decided to dip his foot into the waters of theatre. While attending a show, he meets Annabella Schmidt (Zuzanna Szadkowski), who fires a gun mid show as a distraction. Richard and Annabella leave together and take refuge in Richard's apartment. He soon learns that she is a spy, and is currently on the run from enemy secret agents. Richard agrees to help her and they try to hide out for the night. Sometime in the evening, Annabella is stabbed and stumbles to Richard using her last breaths to tell him to find The 39 Steps. Richard then skips town, knowing that the only way to prove his innocence is to prove that The 39 Steps is indeed real, and caused Annabella's death.

The cast is lead by David Ryan Smith as Richard, he is charismatic, and enthusiastic, as the show's token "straight man". He does a wonderful job as the sail that keeps the show afloat. Zuzanna Szadkowski does good work, tackling three major roles on her own. While nothing she did was bad, I sadly felt that everything after Annabella pales in comparison. She really shines in those scenes, in which she was brilliantly over dramatic and campy. In my opinion, the true stars of the show were Jessie J. Perez and Carter Gill (Clown 1 & 2). They seamlessly tackled one crazy outlandish character after another with no dull moments. Playing everything from news boys to vaudeville performers, they always had the entire audience in the palm of their hands. All four worked extremely well together, and really did meld into a great ensemble.

The play itself is very witty and funny when the material is handled with care and put into the hands of capable actors, and for the most part, I think this production succeeded. While you don't have to be a movie buff (specifically Hitchcock) to enjoy it, it certainly helps as so many of his films are directly (and a lot of the times indirectly) referenced. Many current pop culture references were included as well. The audience couldn't help but love a Donald Trump burn or a Hamilton tune being sung.

The direction was very good, but sadly could've been brilliant. For the most part, his choices were expected, with some moments like the train and car rides near perfection. Not to say that his choices were bad (the movement during the aforementioned train and car scenes were on the brink of brilliance), but just very expected. The set design by William Boles was just splendid. It really gave the show the movie house/vaudeville theater feel that it needed. Also, I must praise D.M. Wood on his wonderful lighting design. His use of shadows truly gave the show a Hitchcock feel that couldn't have been achieved without them.

Overall I enjoyed it and thought this was definitely an above average production. It was fun and witty, and the exact remedy to any blues you might be feeling. I would very much recommend it to anyone looking for a great night on the town.

The 39 Steps August 30 - September 18, 2016

Actors Theater of Louisville

316 W. Main Street

Louisville, KY 40202

Tickets: (502) 584- 1205

actorstheatre.org

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