People used to say, and perhaps they still do, that they preferred drama on the radio because the scenery was much better. Radio stimulates the imagination so there is no limit to where it can go, to what it can do and what it can achieve. Theatre, on the other hand, usually presents you with a fait accompli; you watch the company’s presentation of a play and you are stuck with their interpretation of it.
The 39 Steps is more like an enhanced radio play. The difference is that a vast amount of imagination has already gone into it, so much so that it is easy to envisage the dashing hero leaping along the lofty girders of the Forth Bridge or driving his old jalopy with the wind blowing through his hair. It’s like a radio play that provides you with visual aids to encourage your imagination to conjure up the true magic. The magician’s props are very sparse; a few boxes, a couple of step ladders, the odd bit of furniture, lots of smoke and a theatre – that’s an on-stage theatre.
Apart from the settings, which transport us from a swish London apartment to the Scottish highlands and all stops in between, there is a cast list of 139 characters. 138 of these are played with dexterous cunning by Olivia Greene, Andrew Hodges and Rob Witcomb. It is only Richard Ede as the permanently unruffled, pipe-smoking hero Richard Hannay who doesn’t change hats very often.
The 39 Steps is beautifully and cleverly directed by Maria Aitken but most of the credit must go to the show’s creator, Patrick Barlow. I have been a fan of his for forty-years (which makes us both sound very old) since seeing his Messiah presented by the National Theatre of Brent. The entire NToB, at the time, consisted of Mr Barlow and an unknown, but hilariously funny, Jim Broadbent. Barlow has, of course, moved on since then – his company now consists of four actors, plus a few boxes, a couple of step ladders, the odd bit of furniture, lots of smoke … etc.
Richard Ede is convincing as Hannay, the golly-gosh stalwart of the British Empire and Olivia Greene is just right for all three of the ladies she plays. However, the bulk of the work is done by Messrs. Hodges and Witcomb who effortlessly metamorphose between policemen, spies, hotel landladies and all the rest, sometimes before your very eyes – on one occasion an on-stage quick-change really does appears to be magic. I particularly liked their pair of trench-coated, trilby-hatted secret agents who travel with their own lamp-post under which they can menacingly lurk.
I have known The 39 Steps (or The Thirty-Nine Steps as John Buchan’s book was known) since I was knee-high to grasshopper. I have read the book and seen the four screen adaptations (including the one by Alfred Hitchcock) many times but this incarnation is by far the best. That said, you need never have heard of Richard Hannay or The Thirty-Nine Steps to enjoy this hugely satisfying, side-splitting and frequently breathtaking piece of excellent theatre. Throughout the show you alternate between sitting there with your mouth open in amazement and saying “Wow, that was good”, while laughing all the time and wiping the tears from your eyes. Highly recommended. ★★★★☆ Michael Hasted at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham 20th January 2016
Photo by Dan Tsantilis
