The 39 Schtepps

Most of the action takes place in Scotland, so there's a lot of tartan in the show - and a lot of sheep. Just as Alfred Hitchcock made cameos in all his films, "Lamblet" (named by Marcus) appears in almost every scene. 

“What are The 39 Steps?” – protagonist Richard Hannay (Jack Gilliat ’13) repeatedly asks in our latest production – running through moors and over mountains to find the answer. Fortunately, you only need to make your way to the Copeland Donahue Theater the first weekend in February to find out.

Richard Hannay (Jack Gilliat '13) flees the police by hanging out of a speeding train

The 39 Steps is a riff on Hitchcock’s 1935 film of the same name (and pays homage to many of his other films) –which was an adaptation of based on the 1915 novella by John Buchan. Classic sources to be sure, but this production is anything but staid or old-fashioned.

Margaret (Mallory Thompson '13) gazes out the Rear Window

Adapted by Patrick Barlow and premiered in London in 2006, this version of The 39 Steps isn’t a tedious rehash of a film, or a reprocessed version of the novel. Instead, it embraces the idiosyncrasies of 1930s cinema in order to celebrate the unique magic of theater. Ben Brantley of the New York Times described it as a “fast, frothy exercise in legerdemain…throwaway theater at its finest.” 

Marcus (as a Scottish policeman) chases Hannay across the Forth Bridge

So what does that mean, exactly? Well, this show is all about doing a lot with very little. In our production we’ve got a two-story platform, 1 table, an armchair, 4 wooden chairs, 5 end tables and a few other bits and bobs which we manage to turn into a London flat, a rustic cottage, the Scottish moors, a car, a train and a dozen other locations and objects. Add the melodrama of 1930s film and you get a hilarious hybrid of rough and ready theater-making and highly stylized cinematic performance. One of the greatest joys of rehearsing this show was coming up with weird and wonderful ways to recreate people, places and things. 

Four chairs become a railway compartment

A table and a frame serve as a crofter's cottage in the Scottish highlands.

And here’s the kicker: the 30+ characters in this show are played by just 6 actors - often in quick succession and usually with different accents. Mallory Thompson (’13) demonstrates her considerable comedic skills as the shady Annabella Schmidt, the winsome Margaret plus a few others. Vicky Alejandro (’14) plays the prim Pamela Edwards, while Marcus Baldwin (’16), Landen Taflinger (’13) and Tinnie Wu (’13) round out the rest of the cast as dozens of different characters. As you can imagine, we had a fantastic time bringing all these people to life through improv, experiment and play – laughing until we cried was a fairly common occurrence. 

Richard Hannay tries to persuade Pamela (Vicky Alejandro) to cover for him. Jack and Vicky are the only actors in the cast who play a single character. 

Marcus and Landen as travelling underwear salesmen

...and Scottish policemen

Mallory and Landen play a quirky rustic couple who offer Hannay a bed for the night.

Mallory plays the winsome Margaret...

as well as the fearsome Mrs. Jordan (and many others)!

Marcus as the brilliant and mysterious Professor Jordan

Tinnie '13 takes to the skies as a Flying Ace!

 Our tech crew plays an important part in the production - they quite literally make the magic happen - and are on stage almost as much as the actors.

Keely helps Marcus become a dashing fighter pilot

North by Northwest: Laurel Newman ('16) pilots a fighter plane.

Storm, Landen and Vicky are...um....it's difficult to explain...best to see it in person!

The Salesman discuss the recent murder at Portland Place 

Richard sweeps Margaret off her wellie-clad feet

Good heavens! The play is crawling with police!

Vicky and Storm have a laugh while attempting to navigate the airplanes

What has the crofter just seen? Could it be The 39 Steps?

Storm merrily copes with the chaos and embraces the silliness. (Truth be told, she often instigates it!)

Marcus enjoying a bit of mid-rehearsal improv

So what are the 39 Steps? You'll have to come to the show to find out! In the meantime, here's a wee trailer to "set your heart aquiver." 

The 39 Steps runs February 1-3 in the Copeland Donahue – all shows begin at 7:30. The performance is free, but you’ll need to make a reservation to ensure a seat. Please send your name, the date you’d like to attend and how many seats you require to: ticketbooth@webb.org.

See you at the show!

Stefanie Hamlyn, Director

All photos by Dylan Tully '09 during a mid-week rehearsal in January. Thanks, Dylan!

And forgive the patchwork look of the blog this month. I have no idea why the backgrounds and fonts have gone crazy.