REVIEW: ’39 Steps’ may become season favorite
The Old Lyric Repertory Company generally opens their summer season with what is expected to be the bellwether, the sure-fire winner among the four productions. “The 39 Steps” opened the season Thursday night, and while patrons did not leave the Caine Theatre holding their sides from laughter, they did see a pleasant and different sort of treat.
“The 39 Steps” is loosely — very, very loosely — based on the novel of same name and the movie adaptation done by Alfred Hitchcock. The stage play, though, is a farcical, almost parodiable treatment of the basic plot, designed to showcase the talents of the actors and present an almost-cartoon-like atmosphere. The play calls for the entire story from the novel/movie to be portrayed onstage rapid-fire by only four actors, three of whom play dozens of characters between them.
The OLRC version of the comedy — which premiered in 2007 and hit Broadway hard in 2008 — luckily has four newcomers to carry the burden given to them by the spirited direction of Jim Christian.
Tyson Baker portrays Richard Hannay, who is the focus of a mad chase across 1930s Britain. Mistakenly accused of murder but convinced he holds a secret to the United Kingdom’s survival, Hannay dodges policemen, evil spies and traveling salesmen while persistently running into the beautiful blonde Hitchockesque Pamela. What could have been a cast of, well, dozens at least, is picked up by Justin Ivie, Jeff Allen Pierce and Marza Warsinske.
Ivie and Pierce are a pleasure to watch as they bounce from character to character, never missing a new accent, a new costume — yes, it might only be a different hat, but it works — and a different facial expression, be it male or female. The pair could have easily gotten lost in the mayhem and missed their marks but were spot-on with numerous different Scottish and English characters and voices. Not long into the production, the faces of Pierce and Ivie were glistening with perspiration, due to the numerous layers of extra costumes and the non-stop physicality they called to perform.
Baker is lean and angular, traits needed due to his oft-used running-in-place, a device by the production to show passage of time and distance in the production. With his pencil-thin moustache, Baker plays the Cary Grant-cum-James Stewart Hitchcock hero perfectly. Marsinske is also well-cast, having just enough fun with her Annabella Schmidt/Maragaret/Pamela characters without being too silly.
Much of the humor in “The 39 Steps” is physical or visual comedy. Watching the characters jump from rail car to rail car — scarves and hats blowing in the “wind” — all while never leaving center stage is just an example of the fun and expertise the four actors give the production. Ramping up the parody, much of the humor feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon, with audience members waiting for frying pans or anvils to rework a character’s face or an Acme explosive to blacken one of the stars. Much of the humor also highlights the quirks of theater productions — lights that come on a moment later than they are supposed to, doorbells that don’t work quite right — all done in good fun.
There is also the use of the ultimate theater cliffhanger: the gunshot just before intermission.
Patrons watching closely will see subtle nods to “The Birds,” “North by Northwest,” “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” and other Hitchcock classics, and may even hear some familiarity in the background music.
With a paper-thin parody-driven plot, “The 39 Steps” can thank the four actors driving the action for at least giving this opening production the chance to be the season’s favorite.
“The 39 Steps”
Old Lyric Repertory Company, Caine Theatre, 28 West Center, Logan
Tickets: http://arts.usu.edu
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission