Review: Actors Co-op Delivers Alfred Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS

Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps/adapted by Patrick Barlow/based on the book by John Buchan/& on an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon/directed by Kevin Chesley/Actors Co-op/Crossley Theater/through October 29

Who can top the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock? His stamp on any work makes it eternally the best. Book adaptor Patrick Barlow takes a suspenseful Hitchcock film (1935) of the same name The 39 Steps and fashions a thoroughly entertaining, highly comedic and cinematically monumental suspense yarn for the stage. Director Kevin Chesley and the fine 4-member cast at Actors Co-op make it work as good as it can get anywhere, anytime.

The place is England and Scotland. The time: the 30s. Kevin Shewey plays Richard Hannay whose adventure starts out quite simply with a visit to a music hall in London. There things get a bit tense as he meets a peculiar brunette named Annabella Schmidt (Lauren Thompson) who shoots off a gun in the theatre and then proceeds to go home with Hannay for protection. She is being followed by two shady characters who want her dead because she knows too much about The 39 Steps. More about that later. The two shady characters or Clowns (Townsend Coleman and Carly Lopez) play about two dozen characters between them and Thompson plays two other roles besides Schmidt - a Scottish country wife named Margaret and a blonde femme fatale named Pamela who also have eyes for Hannay. He doesn't have to worry very long about Schmidt, as she is killed off close to the top. Slapstick, visual jokes and special effects all add up to a fabulous evening of farcical edge-of-your-seat fun, like a vaudeville or series of specialty acts.

The four incredible actors possess impeccable timing. As they mime chases aboard trains, inside and out, through water, against fierce winds and dodging low flying planes, the adventure is nonstop. Just watching one of them pretend to escape through a window is an hilariously novel experience. Plus there is music, visuals and one-liners alluding to just about every Alfred Hitchcock film imaginable, including Psycho, Vertigo, North by NorthWest, Rear Window, The Birds, Strangers on a Train, Torn Curtain and The Man Who Knew Too Much. In the background Bernard Herrmann's scores from Psycho and Vertigo are heard at death defying moments...and to make one aware of the intense attraction between Hannay and Pamela.

The sheer theatricality of this skrewball piece makes it an homage not only to Hitchcock movies but also to the theatre itself. The audience watch in awe at director Chesley's pacing and the four actors who work at breakneck speed. An important note about this production at the Co-op: the play works beautifully in the three-quarter, utilizing the audience ... to unexpectedly hold props and ask questions of Mr. Memory in the theatre segment. Running in and out at breakneck speed is a tremendous feat for all the actors, who must also change costumes exceedingly fast for some scenes, and the audiences's proximity to them makes it all the more thrilling and enjoyable.

Stephen Gifford has designed a very efficient set design for the three-quarter stage with all props on shelves, and it's fun to watch as actors change set pieces in between scenes and remove what they need for each scene from the shelves. I particularly enjoyed the assemblage of a car with boxes and metal bowls, etc Kudos to Vicki Conrad for her fine costume design and hair/makeup. Delightful, as the male Clown plays some female roles and the female, male, carrying it all off superbly. Compliments to dialect coach Adam Michael Rose. All actors get the accents spot.on and maintain them.

This is by far a terrifically skilled and polished production that is served up so beautifully in the intimate space of the Crossley Theater.

Good show!

Oh, I almost forgot... what are The 39 Steps? Well, you're just going to have to see the show to learn the answer to that! And watching the movie is not the answer. It does not have the over-the-top humor of this stage satire.

www.actorsco-op.org

(photo credit: Matthew Gilmore)

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