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London Review
London ReviewThe Thirty Nine Steps
by Neil Dowden
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Am I right Sir?
---- Mr Memory |
Catherine McCormack and Charles Edwards
(Photo: Tristram Kenton) |
Buchan wrote a gripping straight thriller, into which Hitchcock introduced humour and romance, but Patrick Barlow's adaptation (from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon) sends up the whole genre of stiff upper lip heroic exploits. And as a self-consciously theatrical spoof it works hilariously well.
Maria Aitken's frenetically paced and visually inventive production uses just four actors to tell the story which, to use a Hitchcockian term, revolves around a "MacGuffin" –- that is, what actually drives the plot forward doesn't really matter as the audience simply goes along with the flow while enjoying the set pieces.
After debonair gentleman-adventurer Richard Hannay (Charles Edwards) discovers that a foreign enemy spy ring called "The Thirty Nine Steps" is trying to smuggle scientific-military secrets out of Britain, he sets out to stop them single-handedly while also being chased by the police who, wrongly, of course, suspect him of murder. Or whatever.
The joy of the show is in seeing how a bewildering succession of scenarios and characters are evoked so splendidly with the creative use of props and costumes. In Peter McKintosh's innovative design, packing cases and stepladders are used for a breathless chase across the roof of the Flying Scotsman travelling over the Forth Bridge, while silhouettes on a screen and dried ice suggest Hannay's pursuit over the mist-bound moors of the Scottish Highlands.
This affectionate parody of Buchan and Hitchcock (which features music from both Psycho and Vertigo) is done with such style that it never becomes tiresome. In fact, the show also sends up the world of am dram, as much fun is had by moving doors and window frames with comic artifice to facilitate sudden entrances and exits, and there are plenty of "deliberate mistakes" when lights come on off-cue or wigs fall off.
Edwards plays the square-jawed Hannay with just the right amount of phlegmatic self-assurance, employing a bemused expression or arched eyebrow to great effect, but not going over the top. The rest of the cast are at full throttle in their multiple roles.
The excellent Catherine McCormack moves from being a black-clad, German-accented femme fatale, to a shy, impressionable crofter's wife, and a dumb but genteel blonde handcuffed to Hannay who reluctantly falls for his charms. Rupert Degas and Simon Gregor show a chameleon-like, gender-bending virtuosity in playing all the other parts, including bumbling policemen, enemy agents, local Highlanders and (respectively) the gloating Nazi villain Professor Jordan and the robotic yet pathetic Mr Memory, who is "programmed" to answer any question he is asked – even if it means betraying his nefarious employers, The Thirty Nine Steps.
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THE THIRTY NINE STEPS
Adapted from John Buchan novel/Alfred Hitchcock film by Patrick Barlow (from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon) Directed by Maria Aitken Starring: Charles Edwards, Catherine McCormack, Rupert Degas, Simon Gregor Design: Peter McKintosh Lighting: Ian Scott Sound: Mic Pool Movement: Toby Sedgwick A West Yorkshire Playhouse production Running time: Two hours with one interval Box Office: 020 7413 1437 Booking to 13th January 2007 Reviewed by Neil Dowden based on September 20th 2006 performance at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus, London W1 (Tube: Piccadilly Circus) |
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