The 39 Steps
Annie Russell Theatre, Winter Park, Florida
Directed by Marianne DiQuattro
Starring Nicholas Juergens and Lily Morse
by Carl F. Gauze
It’s a long race to get to Edinburgh from London in this fluffy re-imagination of John Buchan’s thriller novel The 39 Steps. It’s a classic pre-WWII film played for British laughs with understated British post-war humor.
Richard Hannay (Juergens) returns to his London flat, only to find a beautiful yet morally questionable woman Pamela (Lily Morse) waiting for him. She begs for help and he quickly agrees. Which side she works for remains an open question, but that lack of clear motivations makes tonight’s show a bit of a cliffhanger. The story (adapted by Patrick Barlow) pulls off the music hall schtick and 20 or so characters with just four actors and a variable number of stage hands. The set remains in constant motion, moving the minimal sets hither and yon. Most of the action comes from the Canadian Richard Hannay. He’s the only actor playing the same role all evening. His female counterpart varies in name, but she’s always played by the versatile Lily Morse. She presents her three main roles ending with the elegant Pamela, who gets dragged through the moors of the Scottish Highlands while handcuffed to Hannay. Will they fall in love? Is this not theater? Take a wild guess, then find out what’s on the wedding registry. Supporting the leads we have the versatile “Clown 1” and “Clown 2” (Isabelle Daoust and Ethan Barnett). Keeping track of who was playing any given supporting role was a challenge, but the comic relief worked best when they played a pair of Scots innkeepers.
It’s a well-executed evening, perhaps a bit long but still drawing laughs. And unlike American comedy, British comedy is just weird enough to overcome the passing of the years and remain sardonically funny way longer than the US brand. ◼
