The 39 Steps - A Parody

Claire Brownwell, Ted Deasy, Eric Hissom and Scott Parkinson portray over 150 characters in the Ahmanson’s production of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps. Based on the 1935 film, The 39 Steps is a fun filled parody of Hitchcock’s suspenseful telling of an unlikely bachelor’s adventure into espionage. Richard Hannay begins in his simple apartment, fed up with “elections and wars and rumors of wars.” He longs for “something mindless and trivial. Something utterly pointless.” Deasy delivers a handsome and suave Hannay, as he discovers the solution to his boredom; “I know!” he says. “I’ll go to the theater!” At the theatre, he meets a mysterious woman (Brownwell) claiming to by a spy. When she ends up murdered in his apartment, Hannay is sent on a mission to clear his own name and save England from a plot to destroy the county. The action is non-stop, filled with clever allusions to Hitchcock’s many films and heightened physical comedy. Eric Hissom and Scott Parkinson seamlessly slip between characters at lightning speed. The simple set becomes complex destinations as ladders are transformed into bridges, chairs into vehicles and trunks into train cars. Maria Aitken cleverly mounts this ridiculous comedy under the concept of a small repertory theatre to bring Patrick Barlow’s version to the stage. The program details her vision in her own words: “I envisioned some small rep company in the 1950s in England where this leading man wants to play the Richard Hannay character... This leading man can only muster a leading lady if he gives her three parts to play. And there are two old annoying vaudevillians that are left over from some other production at the theatre. He tells them they have to play all the rest of the roles, all 150 of them, and play them straight. But they don’t always behave like they are suppose to.” This combination creates one of the best slap-stick comedies to grace the Los Angeles stage in some time. A comedy for young and old, The 39 Steps vibrates with energy and laughter on the Ahmanson stage. Keep an eye of for a special appearance of Hitchcock himself!

The 39 Steps at the Ahmanson Theatre: 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. Tuesday-Friday at 8 pm; Saturday at 2 & 8 pm; Sunday at 1 & 6:30 p. Plays through May 16th, 2010. Tickets start at $20-$80.