The 39 Steps

What a treat my first visit to an ADHOC’s production turned out to be. From the warm welcome of the front of house staff to the clever use of a small intimate hall with limited resources, this was a master class in what ‘Village Hall’ amateur dramatics should be all about.

I must confess at this stage that I have not seen Patrick Barlow’s ‘spoof’ adaptation of John Buchan’s novel before, so I had no preconceived ideas as to expectations, knowledge of what action is in the original stage directions or what was adapted by the director (shown in the programme as ‘led by Fran Ross,’ which I’ve never seen listed like that before, so I’m not entirely sure what that means..?). So I proceed with my review on that basis.  

Firstly I was presented with the programme created by Phil Briggs, which was in a cleverly designed, inexpensively produced, newspaper format giving very informative background information and even included a mixture of real 21st century local and 1930’s spoof adverts. I particularly chuckled at the one about ‘Forth Bridge painters required.’ A perfect read whilst waiting for the action to start.

The stage was a minimalistic set by Fran Ross played to blacks, which made full use of the limited space available with a centre stage recess for a lot of the action, with wings taking up 2/3rds of the rear for the numerous props, trucks and furniture which were needed for the many slick scene changes.

ADHOC by name and ad hoc by nature - that may sound like a criticism but in this case it’s simply an admiration of their seamless use of some very clever props. My congratulations to David Messenger for making them and Claire Boniface and Sally Dring for organising their arrival on stage at the appropriate times. In view of the number used and the one or two slight pregnant pauses in the action, obviously no easy task in such a confined space.

Costumes by Sue Chaplin were very well chosen and a mention should also be made of the excellent use of period hair styles and makeup (uncredited..??).

The lighting, designed by Paul Alexander and operated by Chris Chaplin was particularly impressive at times especially in the scenes involving the Forth Bridge. Sound cues by Pete Keeley were spot on and the ‘deliberate errors’, such as door bells instead of door knockers were delivered with perfect comic timing. Some over enthusiastic use of the smoke machine did take the audience a little too far back into the pre smokeless era, but that said when we could still see the stage it gave just the right amount of appropriate atmosphere to many scenes, notably the Scottish Highlands and Forth Bridge.

Rick Davis as Richard Hannay, who is obviously an experienced and consummate actor captured the manner of the 1930’s perfectly, his facial expressions, the stiff upper lip, line delivery and accent were pretty much immaculate with use of both drama and melodrama comically timed to perfection.

The real treat of this show however was the performances of Phil Briggs and Matt Rowson as the two Clowns, who played so many different parts I eventually lost count. Their use of the deadpan expression, working their way through numerous accents, both male and female, or even two characters at once, was an absolute delight. From sinister spies under lampposts to Scottish crofters, cleaning ladies, train guards and policemen, to name but a few, they slipped seamlessly between them – all believably, all very comic indeed.

The three ladies complimented the gentlemen with aplomb, Fran Ross as Annabel Schmidt the sinister spy whose ‘death scene,’ with Hannay escaping from underneath the body will stick in the memory for quite a while, was pitched to perfection, as was Sandra Messenger’s Margaret, the downtrodden but mischievous crofter’s young wife helping Hannay escape through the ‘window’, the best comic use of a simple, basic prop I’ve seen in many a year. Amanda Goggins as Pamela, gave a wonderfully understated, portrayal of the sexually supressed love interest, perfectly suited to the attitudes of the 1930’s - Almost a spoof homage to ‘Brief Encounter’ in itself.

The unseen Adrian Page took on a suitably well pitched 1935 ‘BBC’ accent to fill us in with the various radio announcements. A great cast, well delivered script and pretty much faultless performances all round.  

Finally I mentioned the use of props earlier - the audience were treated to such delights as holding up a rectangle as a window frame, that also provided an escape route as Hannay ‘climbed out’ of the window, a rotating/revolving door and a wardrobe housing a bed, but the highlight of the evening was, in conjunction with the perfect ‘comic book’ posture of the actors, the holding out and shaking of coats and jackets to simulate the billowing wind, whilst escaping across the outside of the train on the Forth Bridge – absolute genius!!

My congratulations to Fran Ross for leading the direction, Tony Lockwood and the team for an excellent production and a big thank you to all the staff and performers at ADHOC. A thoroughly spiffing evening’s entertainment, enjoyed by an extremely appreciative full house. A perfect start to my new post as NODA representative for your area. If this is the standard of the district I shall be in for a delightful tenure. I look forward to your production of ‘Black Adder II’ with keen anticipation.

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