HARTFORD STAGE

presents

ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S

The 39 Steps

a play

Directed by Maxwell Williams

Adapted by Patrick Barlow

REVIEWED BY DONNA BAILEY-THOMPSON

If you arrive at Hartford Stage, as I did, expecting to see an updated version of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1933 acclaimed classic thriller, The 39 Steps, then you, too, may also be disappointed. However, if semi-lampooning, somewhat Monty Pythonesq, with dashes of authentic sophomoric shticks tickling your funny bone as presented by a cast of four playing all the characters, then, hey, you will have come to the right place.

In 2008, the Broadway adaptation of The 29 Steps movie was nominated for six Tonys and won two – Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design. Ironically, the Hartford performance on April 6 was canceled due to a lighting problem that was corrected the following day with the arrival of the necessary part from Boston. Although the cancellation inconvenienced many, without lighting, the performance would have been bereft of incidental wit.

As usual, Hartford Stage’s set and staging and costuming and lighting are all they should be. A golden proscenium studded with large round light bulbs frames the stage. At either side are elevated box seats. At the top center of the proscenium is a bas-relief of a face that looks familiar to those over a certain age who claim it as a long-lost friend when, marionette fashion,  i t   s p e a k s    i n   a   d I s t I n c t i v e   c a d a n c e (Guess Whose Voice.)

At the April 7 performance, Act Two seemed to have better rhythm. There was a scene in the 1935 movie (based upon the 1915 novel by John Buchan) that suddenly became a clear memory. Instead of slapstick bursts and other nonsense intervening, seriousness and suspense reigned. The dialog that throughout the play is lifted word-for-word from the movie script was most evident during the overnight scene at the motel (an “inn” in 1935) when, for a few minutes, a narrative triumphed.

All four actors, who take their comic roles seriously, are not strangers to Hartford Stage – Robert Eli (Richard Hannay, the only actor who plays only one role); Steve French (Second Clown), Christina Pumariega (Annabella, Margaret/Pamela) and Noble Shropshire (First Clown). The adaptor of The 39 Steps is Patrick Barlow; the play is directed by Maxwell Williams who is Hartford Stage’s Resident Director.

As usual, this review is subjective.

The production runs through May 1. Evening performances are week nights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday) at 7:30 PM and weekends (Friday and Saturday) at 8:00 PM. Matinee performances are Sundays and selected Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2:00 PM. For more information, call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 and/or visit www.hartfordstage.org.