A few steps too many...

About three-quarters through the first act of The 39 Steps Richard Hannay, the harassed and harried hero of this spoof of a play, finds himself standing behind a podium, attempting to hide a pair of handcuffs dangling from one wrist, and facing every public speaker’s, and/or actor’s, nightmare. That is, he’s expected to give a speech about something, but does not have the knowledge, the words or even a clue to whom he’s speaking. After several umm’s and ahem’s he brightens up, stares straight out into the audience and forcefully says one word, “Change.” An obvious reference to Barack Obama, it resulted in quite a nice ripple of laughter from the audience.

That moment, however, was the first and only reference to anything current; which is a good thing actually. The 39 Steps is a staged spoof taken directly from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name with most of the original dialogue; albeit some liberties are taken with quick throwaway references to other Hitchcock movies, including the crop duster sequence from North by Northwest. Maybe this is not such a good thing since these references (Vertigo…oh, c’mon) mostly result in groans of recognition rather than true amusement.

I’m not sure what has happened since the play’s opening night because I went back and checked the New York Times review and it was an unmitigated rave. I think somehow, since then, the performances have been toyed with. There seems to be a lot of unnecessary corny stuff that screws up the momentum of what should be a breakneck, uninterrupted montage of stage (and movie) magic. I could be wrong but I think some of the stage business has been “enhanced” a bit by the actors. Sometimes it works but mostly not. The play should speak for itself and there is plenty of great entertainment to be had if only everything was played straight, without breaking the fourth wall and popping one’s eyes and mugging engagingly at the audience. Overacting has its place, certainly, and can be riotous but not when it’s done for the cheap hoots at the expense of economy and pacing.

This production has been highly touted for its utilization of only four actors. Richard Hannay is played wonderfully by Charles Edwards, who created this role in London two years ago and has a lock on it. He is the only performer to play only one role. Jennifer Ferrin plays three of the female characters (including the first murder victim) and handily charms us in all three. The other two actors, Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton, play the rest of the characters which number into the scores, including men, women, bogs and bushes that snag the heroine’s clothing whilst our dynamic duo thrash their way thru the fens and heath of Scotland. But there, I’m afraid, is the rub. Although both men are certainly versatile and funny, a number of their touted “variety” of characters pretty much rang the same to my pea brain, thereby engendering confusion more than admiration for their versatility.

During the second act the breakneck pace slowed a bit and the word “tedious” sprang to mind. The final dénouement with the revealing of the meaning of the words “The 39 Steps” worked very well with the exception of the repeated death-throes of the villain. You know, one of those supposedly hilarious instances where someone drops dead only to revive and drop dead again. And again. I felt like shouting, “Oh, get OVER it,” but, being the sensitive theatergoer I am, I just waited until now.

Overall, it was a fun evening of theater, cute and amusing, and that’s about the context in which it should be judged. The 39 Steps has been nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for Best Play. Oh, get over it.