The 39 Steps: Mystery/Comedy. From the novel by John Buchan. Adapted by Patrick Barlow. From an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. Directed by Mark Anderson Phillips. Center REPertory Company, 1601 Civic Drive in Downtown Walnut Creek, CA. 925-943-7469 or www.centerrep.org.
THE 39 STEPS at CenterRep is a tour de force for the actors
It has been almost 100 years since The Thirty-Nine Steps novel was written by John Buchan. In the interim there have been a series of incarnations of the basic plot used for movies and TV. This adaptation by Patrick Barlow uses the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie as its starting point and director Mark Anderson Phillips has thrown in more than a modicum of references to Hitchcock’s work to extract laughs throughout the evening.
Yes, you are reading that right. That director Phillips is the superb actor who has been entertaining the Bay area audiences for years. He gave an absolutely smashing performance, winning a Shellie Award, in Center Reps’ 2012 staging of Rumors. He also received rave reviews playing Richard Hannay in TheatreWorks production of The 39 Steps.
What then is he doing in the director’s chair and who is Richard Hannay? Phillips is in the director’s chair because he is extremely versatile and his directorial skill is on exhibit in this play. Richard Hannay (Ben Johnson) is the protagonist and he is the only actor who does not double in another role in the play. That leaves Cassidy Brown, Jennifer Erdmann and Mark Farrell to play the other 100 or more roles. They are fantastic, hilarious and adept with quick costume changes and a marvel at slapstick actions. They almost put Tuna Texas character’s shenanigans to shame, but not quite.
Richard Hannay is a stiff upper lip bachelor Brit complete with tweeds (costumes by B. Modern) and pipe. A quick pick-up in a local theater of shady-lady with a secret and a German accent leads to her murder with a knife (think the movie Psycho) and Hannay has to flee since he is accused of the murder. We hear the phrase “39 Steps” early in the first act the remainder of the evening is devoted to finding out the meaning of the phrase. He picks up a love interest, sort of, along the way and Johnson an Erdmann milk their “bed room” scene while handcuffed together for all its worth.
There is even a plane crash scene that brought a gale of laughter as did a silhouette of the portly ‘master’ Hitchcock parading behind the scrim. The music has been usurped from the ‘master’s’ movies and you will recognize, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, North by Northwest and others.
Brown and Farrell carry most of the action but are ably assisted by Erdmann. Phillips wisely uses a relatively empty theatre set that allows the action to flow but he must share credit with the production team: Scenic designer Eric Sinkkomen, sound designer Lyle Barrare, lighting designer Kurt Landisman, stage manager Wesley Apfel and any other behind the scenes workers.
Although the evening had its shares of laughs and is well worth a visit, there were lapses where action was forced. Although Ben Johnson did a creditable job one would wish that director Phillips had cast himself in the role or Richard Hannay. Running time just under 2 hours with an intermission.
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
