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The 39 Steps

From the moment the audience stepped into the theatre, Contini's production of // The 39 Steps // worked to bring the audience into its comical world. While the audience was waiting for the show to start, they were treated to a loop of period cartoons played on a projection screen set up on stage. The 2 usher characters were also milling around in the audience heckling audience members about their tickets, all the while staying in character. As the performance was starting, a short video was played to remind the audience to silence their cellphones during the play, but even this relatively inconsequential aspect of the performance was made comical and tailored to fit into time period that the play is set in. After this short message was played, credits began to roll on the screen. These credits were made in a style that resembled the type of credits that one would see in an old Warner Brothers movie. All of these pre-preformance touches did not add much to the production as a whole, but I appreciated them thoroughly, because they showed an attention to detail by the director that would appear again in the many other aspects of the play. These small touches also served to clue me in on what type of performance I was about to see, because up until then, I had only a vague idea of what to expect from // The 39 Steps // beyond that it was mystery-comedy based on an Alfred Hitchcock movie, so these touches gave me a perspective of the time period that the play takes place during, and that the play was meant to parody the detective dramas of early Hollywood.

Overall, the set used for the production was very minimalist. Entire scenes could be created with a few chairs, a scaffold, and a few items contained in a large, black trunk, but this simplicity worked very well for the play, because the focus of this production was on the ridiculousness of the characters, not aesthetic value of the work as a whole. The set pieces were there to create a context for the characters and their antics, rather than to contribute to the feel of the performance as a whole. The one prominent feature of the set created for this production was the way in which the proscenium was decorated in such a way that it mimics an old, worn theatre. This motif is continued with two semi-circular areas on stage, which are decorated in the same manner as the proscenium, that contained chairs, which represent the balcony seats that are often found in theatres. Both the decoration of the proscenium and the faux balcony seats give the audience the impression that this performance is a play within a play, and this idea makes prefect sense when combined with the extremely theatrical events that occur at every turn during the show. In addition to theatre-esque aspects of the set, set pieces were often moved during the middle of a scene to represent a change in perspective that one would see in a film, which furthers the idea that what is happening onstage is actually a performance within a performance. All of the aspects of the set combine to form a coherent whole that is not meant to be the main focus of the production; rather, it is intended to guide the audience to towards the main focus of the production, the actors.

The actors in // The 39 Steps // were given a very difficult task by the director. They were charged with switching back and forth between a multitude of characters, often literally, at the drop of a hat. I feel that the actors performed extraordinarily well, especially given the unique nature of the roles in this production. Their transitions between characters were very smooth, and they very adeptly gave each character a flavor of their own. The scene that first comes to mind when I think of their excellence in switching characters is the scene in which Richard Hannay is riding in a train car with two other gentleman on the way to Glasgow. The two actors that play the gentlemen switch back and forth between being the gentlemen, police officers, and several other characters, without even leaving the stage. This constant switching creates a frenetic pace that is very entertaining to watch as an audience member. Hats are donned and then quickly dropped in a delicate dance that is truly a service to how diligently these actors have worked in preparation for these performances. The actor who plays the main character, Richard Hannay, is the only actor who plays a single character throughout the whole production, and in doing so he is able to give his character a unique personality. The accent that the actor gives Hannay is appropriately cheesy, and it is obvious that the actor channeled a bit of James Bond gone wrong when he came up with his interpretation of Hannay. The Bond influences stood out to me the most in a comical scene in which Hannay smooth talks and seduces the young wife of the old man who lives near the moors; however, Hannay's seduction comes to a crashing halt when the woman's husband sees Hannay trying to seduce his wife and Hannay is forced to flee when the old man tries to get revenge by telling the police that Hannay is in his house. The actors in this production are not professionals, but, in my opinion, this did not effect the overall quality of the production or my enjoyment of it. If anything, I would say that the amateur actors were able to bring a certain endearing quality that might be lost if the actors were professionals. The lighting used in the production works very well to evoke the film-noir motif that I believe Contini was going for with this production. Lighting was also used in the production to emphasize when characters say certain words or phrases. For example, whenever the characters mention the 39 steps, the lighting dims around the stage, except for a single beam of light surrounding the character. The lighting in these situations, combined with the stylized motions that the characters perform during these moments, create a scene that looks like It belongs in a 1950's crime series. Beyond these small moments of lighting used for emphasis, the lighting in this production is fairly static, but still manages to continue on with the motif that is present in every aspect of this production. Like the lighting, the sound in // The 39 Steps // was used sparingly, but it is an effective tool used to emphasize the many comically dramatic scenes in the play. The sound clips used during the dramatic moments were instantly recognizable to the audience as a mainstay of the detective mystery shows of the 1950's. These stylized sounds that occur throughout the performance contrast sharply with the realistic gun shot sound effects that were used at key moments in the play. To me, these gun shot sound effects were jarring because they contrasted greatly with the light hearted way in which the rest of the production is presented. While the shots were jarring, they did not effect my enjoyment of the play in a negative way; though, I feel that there may have been a better alternative to use in those situations that would have meshed more with the feel of the play as a whole. Overall, sound was not a very important element in the production of the play as a whole, but when it was used, it served a very important purpose. The costume design in this production had to be done in such a way that took into account the many quick changes would be done, while still paying homage to the clothing that was popular in 1930's England. As a whole, the costumes were not remarkable, but in a good sense, because they were exactly what would would expect for the time period. For most of the costumes, the designer chose to use more subdued colors, but this trend was broken with Annabella Schmidt's pink, sequined dress. I think that deciding to make Schmidt's costume gaudy compared to the characters' costumes was a very wise choice by the costume designer, because it mirrors her personality, which stands out even among antics performed by the other characters in the play. With the costume design, we again see the use of subtle emphasis to distinguish a certain key aspect of the production, such as the crazy Annabella Schmidt, while not taking attention away from the other events that are occurring onstage. After examining the production as a whole, I believe that the director of this play had a very clear idea of what he wanted this production to be, and he did an excellent job of realizing this goal. Every choice about the direction and design of this play emphasize the crazy, fast paced show that I believe Contini was going for. In his casting he chose individuals who could not only physically handle the many quick changes and shuffling about required for the play, but could also mentally handle the task of switching back and forth between many different characters, all while giving each character a unique flavor. The lighting, set, sound, and costumes all adhere to the film-noir motif that the director was going for. I am very impressed with the way that the director and all the designers that worked on the various aspects of the production worked together to create such a coherent back drop for the actors to create their characters on. Contini chooses to build up suspense about what the 39 steps actually are during the play by using lighting and sound cues, but he never actually allows the actors to reveal what the steps are. The suspense the director creates builds throughout the production reaches a climax at the very end of the play, when the audience believes that Hannay will finally find out what the steps are, but is instead gunned down, concluding the play. Even a week after the performance, I still find myself wondering just what these 39 steps were and what made them so important, and because the performance has stuck with me, I consider it a success. Even if the performance did not leave me asking myself questions after it was over, I would still consider it a success, simply because it made me laugh. Throughout the whole performance I was wondering what crazy thing was going to happen next, and maybe that is another aspect of the mystery that exists within // The 39 Steps //.