“Deranged, demented and utterly delicious and delectable.”
Kate Stratford
4.5 Stars
Venue: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Dates: 12th August. Touring production.
For decades in Australia, John Buchan’s The 39 Steps was de rigeuer study in high school – probably in an attempt to engage boys in reading. The protagonist, Richard Hannay, disaffected by life, goes to the theatre and finds himself caught up in a tumultuous world of spies, secrets and escapades. Alfred Hitchcock made a film of it in 1935 and it is “ not much of an exaggeration to say that all contemporary escapist entertainment begins with The 39 Steps.” (Robert Towne)
Fulfilling the escapist brief to a Pythonist degree, the film noir classic has been re-imagined by playwright Patrick Barlow, who mined the film for rich comedy in the absurdist style. 4 actors playing 130 roles (or more accurately, 3 actors playing 129 characters) race through director Damien Ryan’s cleverly reimagined homage to the film classic.
At his beck and call are four iconic performers – Lisa McCune (whose Scottish reel dancing brought the house down); Ian Stenlake doing a great line in being uptight, confused and crafty – and The Umbilical Brothers (David Collins and Shane Dundas) who dizzyingly deliver at least 120 characters between them. The unflagging energy and commitment to perfectionism kept the audience in fits of laughter for the whole 2 hours. Choreography is wonderfully precise, as such shenanigans demand and moments of clown action are carefully designed. Coat work brought the audience undone on serval occasions – owning much to the work of not only the Umbilical Brothers but Fight Director Scott Witt.
The designs stuns. James Browne’s set and costumes takes us into the world of film noir and graphic novels with grayscale and moving set parts which create frames not unlike that of filming techniques of Hitchcock. It serves the action by creating a series of frames which move rapidly. Reinforced by some excellent lighting and AV projection (Matthew Marshall) and SFX (Brady Watkins) this is what a show looks like when design, cast and crew truly work cohesively to coalesce a director’s vision.
There are moments to exclaim over all the way home. The aforementioned dancing by Lisa McCune and coat clowning by everyone. The climbing through windows and over each other. Quick changes of costumes and accents. This is not meant to be theatre which engages on a philosophical level – just a bloody good night out.
Deranged, demented and utterly delicious and delectable.
Photos by Cameron Grant
Kate Stratford, Theatre Now
