The 39 Steps

I really did not know what to expect when I arrived at The Queen’s Hall for this production.  I knew a professional production of the story had been touring in 2013.  In fact, I saw it in Malvern where I found it to be a rollicking comedy drama based around the famous thriller, filmed three times to date, all very straight, featuring Robert Donat (1935), Kenneth More (1959) and Robert Powell (1978) plus a more recent television version starring  Rupert Penry Jones.  Alfred Hitchcock, apparently, junked most of John Buchan’s original novel for the first version and the films generally seem to have followed that version.  The 39 Steps themselves seem to take on a different meaning with each production.  Not to worry, The Queen’s Hall Theatre Club presented the same version I saw last year, adapted by Patrick Barlow from the Hitchcock scenario.

That was something of a relief, as I suspect the original John Buchan version from 1915 might be somewhat old fashioned by now.  The company had, however, accepted quite a challenge, taking on this version.  The basic story-line is quite straightforward/convoluted, involving a stout hearted English chap who finds himself drawn into a web of espionage and intrigue involving a lady dying across his lap, him taking a dangerous train journey to Scotland, an equally dangerous trip on foot across the Scottish moors and a denouement back in London, in a theatre.  Much of the humour derives from the fact that all the characters are played by just five actors here (four in the professional version) who, by their actions, have to make the very static props and scenery take on a life of their own  - and it works.  The actors throw themselves into the action, occasionally involving them in outrageous characature.  I think Benny Grace’s performance as a braw Scottish lady probably epitomises this but there is a lot of it, from everyone concerned, throughout the production.

The actors all deserve a pat on the back.  David Nixon played our hero, Richard Hannay, with a suitably stiff upper lip, pencil moustache and a straight face throughout.  Peter Cook and Benny Grace play numerous silly ass Englishmen, spies and Scottish people.  How their activities did not cause David Nixon to crack up is beyond me.  The audience was very amused by them.  Lisa Berg played the femme fatale in two guises, Anabella (who dies in Mr Hannay’s lap early on) and Pamela who has to deal with a saucy scene involving them with wet clothing in a hotel room.  She probably had the straightest parts in the play, after Hannay, both of which she carried off to good effect, especially when he had to slide off an armchair, under her corpse, which was suspended by the arms of his chair.  Caroline Grace was another Scottish character, being a squinty eyed crofter’s wife, plus a showgirl in the final theatre scene.  They all deserve praise for carrying off a quite difficult task which caused a great deal of amusement within the audience.

This was my first visit to see The Queen’s Hall Theatre Club but, I hope, not my last.

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