39+Steps+Critique

 There are many aspects of a play that come together to make it good: the setting, costume designs, lighting, sounds, acting, and directing. Every aspect of a play is essential, and they all must integrate together to form one brilliant production. __39 Steps__ was done wonderfully, and all of these elements meshed well.  The setting involves a play’s physical appearance, the materials, style, and color used to make up that physical appearance and the relationship to the play. For instance, during the train scene, they used two trunks and ladders to signify the seats and windows. The door is used for comic effect in many instances, but especially when Richard Hannay goes to Professor Jordan’s house and is shown down to the room in which Professor Jordan is currently located. He is shown through the front door, through a hallway, down a lift, through corridor, and finally to another door. Each time they position the door differently to show that he is moving from place to place. The scenic designer got extremely creative during the car scene when he used two flashlights on chairs to show headlights and four chairs to show the four seats in a car. He also got creative when he used a wooden plank on the bridge to provide the imagery of the desk at the hotel.  Costumes are equally important as the setting. One of the most comical characters from the entire play was Mr. Memory. Even the very sight of him was hysterical. He had a mustache and a brightly-colored outfit (Indian garments and a hat with a huge feather protruding from the top). Annabella Schmidt wears a deep red costume with black lace sleeves and gloves on her hands which all add to her mysterious demeanor. Richard Hannay wears a suit and heavy makeup with strong blush to emphasize his cheekbones. At one point, he brings out an enormous map and seems to have trouble with it for comedic effect. The maid that comes in to clean his house definitely adds to the comedy of the play. A man plays her and has huge breasts and also a huge butt. During some parts of the play, they must get creative, especially during the train scene. One of the salesman switches to playing a paperboy. At that time, he has to change hats and get down on his knees to show the different characters and difference in height. The other salesman then switches hats to become a policeman. They had to get creative when dealing with this part as well though because then the policeman is switched to the train announcer, and they talk back and forth. They brought a double-sided hat into this scene to show the change. Each time he would change between the two, he would switch his hat around and also spin around. Later, the scarves of the men in airplanes are positioned upward to cleverly show that the wind was on them. One of the most humorous costumes was the sheep though. They lined white pillowcases on a rope, and an actor held each end of the rope and said “baa.”  The lighting of a play is essentially important to create different moods. It plays a similar part as the sound. When used on the train, the lights flash in the background to signify the scenery changing. They also used fog and greenish lights to signify the night and moonlight. The green light was even shined through the window to signify moonlight coming through the window. When the old, Scottish man watches his wife and Hannay through the window, the green light shines on the Scottish man to accentuate the creepiness of him peeping at them through the window. In another scene, when the airplane crashes, they flash red lights to show that it has crashed. Also, when Hannay is at Professor Jordan’s house, they show yellow spotlights through the door to show that there is a party through that room. Again they use a red spotlight to show that Professor Jordan and his wife are evil after he shoots Hannay. Again, they use a blue spotlight to portray the moonlight. When Hannay and Margaret are being shown to their bedroom at the hotel, the lighting changes and gets dimmer to show the transition from the hallway to their room. Finally, during every Mr. Memory scene, the lights shine heavily on him to show his huge shadow on the wall behind him.  Sound is often used simultaneously with lighting to produce a desired mood, and is used mostly to achieve a certain mood. For instance, the opening music adds a sense of anticipation because the notes rise and fall to build up to the action. All of the music seems like it would be from an old spy film and is very dramatic. Also, a clock ticks in the background to show that the time passes by when Hannay sleeps. When the maid finds Annabella dead in Hannay’s apartment, a loud scream comes from the sound system instead of from the actor to produce a comic effect. Whenever Hannay kisses a woman, the music becomes dreamy. On the contrary, when Hannay goes outside and on top of the train, the music becomes dramatic and fast-paced. Many times, a police report with an update on Hannay is relayed over the sound system, and when Hannay finally arrives in Scotland, Scottish music is played. Gentle music is played to give a homey mood when Hannay is showed to the kitchen by Pamela. After that, the music gradually gets louder as they are talking so that they have to yell in order to be heard over the music; this adds to the comedy of the play. Pamela’s Scottish husband watches them through the window after that, and psycho music is played to give the audience a sense of the creepiness. A news flash on the location of Hannay is then played over the sound system when he escapes from the Scottish man’s house. Later, when the airplane crashes, crashing sounds are played over the speakers to make it more realistic. While Hannay is running about the country, apprehensive music is playing. Professor Jordan later tries to convince Hannay to join forces with him. While talking about “our home,” the national anthem is played to give that sense of patriotism. Later, when Hannay gives his speech, righteous music is playing. When Margaret escapes from Hannay, mischievous music is played, but later, when she realizes he has been telling the truth, the music is light and whimsical to give the audience a dreamy mood. A record scratching breaks that dreamy mood though once Hannay realizes the police have left, and he has no lead.  Acting is probably the most important of all of the aspects because without actors, there is no show. Mr. Memory brings such comedy to the play. Every time he answers a question in his Indian accent, he takes a deep breath and violently shakes his entire body. Annabella’s voice is always eerie and mysterious to compliment her character. Hannay makes fun of Schmidt’s accent. When she says “in wove,” he repeats it several times questioningly. The same goes for when she says, “Wichard” and “Schcotland.” Annabella laughs convulsively at times to add to the comedy of the play. She also adds to the comedy by looking like she is trying to seduce Hannay when really, she has been murdered. The actors really add to the train scene by bouncing up and down to provide the imagery that they are on a train. The two policeman chasing Hannay outside of the train give out loud, girly screams to add to the humor. Hannay loves to make fun of people’s accents, because he also makes fun of the Scottish man’s when he says “hoss” rather than “house.” All of the actors add to their characters by giving them each an accent. The old, Scottish man has a scratchy, Scottish accent and spits a lot to show his age. He also hunches over frequently. When the old, Scottish man goes to talk to the policeman who comes questioning him, Pamela opens the opening in the door to eavesdrop on what they are saying, and we hear incoherent babbling to signify them whispering. Professor Jordan’s wife always places her hands on her huge breasts, and taps them to add comedy, while Professor Jordan himself has a rasping voice. While talking to Hannay, Professor Jordan takes his beard and places it above his lips to give him a mustache instead. This mustache looks like Hitler’s mustache to give a comedic effect. Also, he talks extremely fast to add to the humor and slows his speech at times to show contrast and add more humor. Hannay falls very slowly for comedic effect when he is shot, and Professor Jordan and his wife laugh violently. The old man at the election definitely adds to the comedy by making crazy gestures before he sits down (to show his age) and also by falling asleep during Hannay’s speech. Again, Hannay makes fun by saying “McCrocodile” instead of “McQuorquadale.” Later, Margaret’s stand-off nature and Hannay’s persistence add to the comedy. She then starts to warm up to him, and he becomes harsh again. The dramatic death of Mr. Memory is also quite comedic. He “dies,” and then comes back to life at least twice. Finally, when he is actually dying, he says good-bye three times.  Directing is a key component of a play as well; the director helps put the play together and interprets the work in his/her own way to show the audience. One of the changes George Contini makes is in Mr. Memory. He was originally written in the script to be English, but Contini changed him to an Englishman pretending to be Indian. He also got very creative when it came to the airplane scene. They originally practiced it by throwing an airplane onto the stage to signify the crash, but the airplane would never go where they wanted it to. Therefore, about two days before the play, he changed it to an airplane attached to the hat that Hannay would control. When the cops have to chase Hannay from the Scottish man’s house, they play a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who should go through the window first. This adds comedy and a sense of modernism to the play. He adds comedy also by making the actors use slow motion when Hannay is escaping, and the police are after him. A great way to keep the audience interested is to break the actor-audience threshold. He has the old man at the election do this when the old man thinks that is the way to the podium. Contini gets creative again when he uses the bridge for many uses to show the obstacles Hannay and Margaret encounter during the scene in which they are escaping. Contini makes more humor when he decides, later, to make the bed at the hotel undersized for Hannay and Margaret. He keeps the audience very interested again by having crowd interaction during theatre scenes. He even has all of the lights come on when the show “stops” as if we are part of the show. Again, he has the actors break the actor-audience threshold during the chase at the end. Finally, I love how Contini made the play end in the same way it started. Hannay was in a chair again, and a short movie was shown to make it look like an old time film.  There are many aspects of a play that contribute to its overall message and production. The setting, costumes, lighting, sound, acting, and directing all help bring a play together. When used effectively, they can make a play fantastic, as they did in __The 39 Steps__.