The 39 Steps

Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of John Buchan’s novel is a spoof spy thriller. It was originally written for four actors, one of whom has the principal role, while the others all take various parts, as well as their named character. Here we had a cast of eight, an option available to amateur theatre.  Not only does this spread the load, so to speak, it also enables more group members to take part in this hilarious play.

The play was well cast with all the actors being fully immersed in their various roles which required multiple adjustments to costumes.  This must have been quite the job for back stage which was obviously extremely well organised or absolute chaos!

Ollie Robinson is a very talented young actor and his performance as Richard Hannay was nothing short of amazing.  He was on stage almost all the time and the delivery of his dialogue throughout was faultless, He also had the RP one would expect of a 37 year old man-about-town in the 1930’s, together with the mannerisms.  It was good to be able to have a few words with Ollie at the end of the evening and to know that he hopes to continue with his acting, which he obviously enjoys. The group is very lucky to have him on their books! 

The rest of the cast really worked their socks off and proved themselves to be extremely adept at taking on multiple roles.  As well as the numerous costume changes, there was ageing and accents to get to grips with as required. In fact, there were many things to juggle as the cast swapped from character to character and every one of them is to be congratulated.  I must though give a mention here to Mr Memory, played by Ian Russell.  How did he remember that formula?

The basic set was that of Hannay’s London flat, which is in the process of being decorated and from where he introduces himself to the audience.  I felt the character would have come across to the audience better had he been seated in a higher chair rather than sinking into a sofa. That of course is just a personal opinion. Either side of the proscenium were two very well constructed theatre boxes representing the London Palladium where Hannay’s adventures first began. This set formed the background for all the scenes, with good use being made of the decorator’s ladders on which were hung various backdrops indicating train stations as well as other locations as the action moves from one place to the next.  The minimal props were mostly multi-functional with ingenious use being made of a number of boxes, representing train seats as well as a car and a plane. 

The show had some terrific special effects, both lighting and sound, including the escape from the train and from the farmhouse as well as hanging off the bridge and of course the aeroplane chase, straight out of Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest”.  The audience of course has to use their imagination during some of these sequences, but I think that is all part of the fun. It was also good to hear live music played at all appropriate times.

I liked that scene changes were carried out quickly with background music and never in complete black-out. 

I really enjoyed this production and must congratulate Will on his directing. My one criticism is that I would like to have seen Hannay more suitably dressed for the period.  I must stress though that this did not detract, in any way, from the actor’s performance.

Well done to all involved and thank you for your hospitality.

 

 

 

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