Theater Review: The 39 Steps
For those who don't know I recently traveled to New York for a few days and because I was there, I obviously had to take in a Broadway performance or two. So I wanted to take a few days and write up a review of each of the shows that I saw. Now I understand that you might not be headed toward NY any time in the near future, and thus you might not be able to see some of these shows. But keep your ear out. Each show that I saw either already has a touring production traveling about the United States, or will fairly soon. One show even has the rights avalible for regional and local theater, so you might be able to see it closer to your home than NY.
First up, The 39 Steps.
This was the only show I saw that wasn't a musical, and was actually the only one that I saw, that wasn't on Broadway. The 39 Steps premiered on Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for a Tony for best new play. After it closed on Broadway, it re-opened off-Broadway eventually making its way to The Union Square Theater where I saw it.
The 39 Steps, as you may have guessed is based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. However, whereas the movie is a thriller (it's often credited for creating the thriller feel that Hitchcock's films are famous for) the play is an out and out comedy. The basic plot is kept in tact, an ordinary man finds himself on the run for a murder he didn't commit all the while trying to unravel a conspiracy involving a secret organization and missing government information.
The way that the show plays this straight plot for laughs is by keeping everything minimal. It's as if the actors are trying as hard as possible to put on a faithful adaptation of the Hitchcock movie but the limitations of the stage are preventing them from doing so. For example the movie has a chance scene on top of a train that involves on character leaping into a river as the train is crossing a tall bridge. However, on stage this results in the actor dangling only a few inches from the ground. Hitchcock allusions are abound in the show where One character has to escape through the REAR WINDOW of the building and another can't climb to safety because they get VERTIGO.
But what makes the show so good, is that the entire thing is done with only four actors. One actor, the lead, play the same part the whole time. Then a female actor plays the three girl parts in the play. And every other role in the show is played by one of the remaining two actors. This involves lightning fast, almost unbelievable, costume changes at several points in the show. At some points one actor is playing two different characters who are on the stage at the same time causing him to talk to himself.
It's the kind of thing that can be very tedious if done poorly but if done just right (as it was when I saw it) it's nothing short of brilliant.
See if you can find a performace of it, because it is very much worth checking out. Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie yet, you might want to get on that. Not that you need to see the movie to understand what's happening in the play, but it's a pretty fantastic thriller in its own right, and it might be hard to take it as seriously after you've seen the stage version.
First up, The 39 Steps.
This was the only show I saw that wasn't a musical, and was actually the only one that I saw, that wasn't on Broadway. The 39 Steps premiered on Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for a Tony for best new play. After it closed on Broadway, it re-opened off-Broadway eventually making its way to The Union Square Theater where I saw it.
The 39 Steps, as you may have guessed is based on the Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. However, whereas the movie is a thriller (it's often credited for creating the thriller feel that Hitchcock's films are famous for) the play is an out and out comedy. The basic plot is kept in tact, an ordinary man finds himself on the run for a murder he didn't commit all the while trying to unravel a conspiracy involving a secret organization and missing government information.
The way that the show plays this straight plot for laughs is by keeping everything minimal. It's as if the actors are trying as hard as possible to put on a faithful adaptation of the Hitchcock movie but the limitations of the stage are preventing them from doing so. For example the movie has a chance scene on top of a train that involves on character leaping into a river as the train is crossing a tall bridge. However, on stage this results in the actor dangling only a few inches from the ground. Hitchcock allusions are abound in the show where One character has to escape through the REAR WINDOW of the building and another can't climb to safety because they get VERTIGO.
But what makes the show so good, is that the entire thing is done with only four actors. One actor, the lead, play the same part the whole time. Then a female actor plays the three girl parts in the play. And every other role in the show is played by one of the remaining two actors. This involves lightning fast, almost unbelievable, costume changes at several points in the show. At some points one actor is playing two different characters who are on the stage at the same time causing him to talk to himself.
It's the kind of thing that can be very tedious if done poorly but if done just right (as it was when I saw it) it's nothing short of brilliant.
See if you can find a performace of it, because it is very much worth checking out. Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie yet, you might want to get on that. Not that you need to see the movie to understand what's happening in the play, but it's a pretty fantastic thriller in its own right, and it might be hard to take it as seriously after you've seen the stage version.
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