New York Theater: Brilliantly witty parody of
Hitchcock's "39 Steps"
by Lucy Komisar
The suave hero is racing over moors, pursued by a small
bi-plane, while on a hill to the side, a familiar figure watches. It is
Alfred Hitchcock, who regularly shows up in his mystery thrillers. Except
this isn’t cinema, it’s theater, and old Alfie is a tiny Indonesian-style
shadow puppet. It’s a scene from Maria Aitken’s enormously clever production
of Patrick Barlow’s parody of Hitchcocks “The 39 Steps.” You’ve never seen
anything like it.
 It is 1935, just the right year for a film noir spy
drama actually made by Hitchcock in that pre-war time and centered around a
devilish villain whose accent becomes more and more Germanic as his
malevolent plot is revealed.
Charles Edwards plays the hero, Richard Hannay, who is
stereotypically British: he phones his broker, goes to his club, and when a
beautiful lady wants to come home with him, says, "Well, I've got the
decorators in."
Jennifer Ferrin portrays three seductive women,
beginning with Annabella Schmidt who seeks Hannay’s help in stopping the
theft of British air secrets.
There’s lots of hokey movie music and dialogue like
this:
 Annabella: Have you ever heard of the Thirty Nine
Steps?
Hannay: What’s that, a pub?
Annabella: Please no jokes Mr. Hannay. If they are not
stopped, it is only a matter of days, perhaps hours before the top secret
and highly confidential information is out of the country. And when they’ve
got it out of the country God help us all!!!
 Alas, Anabella is knifed by an unseen stranger. Hannay
is the prime suspect and escaping with police in hot pursuit, he clambers
atop train cars, races over moors, and slogs across a river.
He is sometimes betrayed, sometimes saved by the
intervention of a beautiful woman.
Margaret, the put-upon wife of a dour Scottish farmer,
warns him of police headlights. Svelte Londoner Pamela turns the fugitive
in, then finds herself handcuffed to him as a material witness. A typical
stage direction: “They gaze at each other. A moment of stunned sexual
longing.” Pamela is the assertive ingenoue of the 30s who of course falls
for the guy.
 Aficionados will be happy to learn that all the
original scenes are there (albeit somewhat altered!) and that some of the
text comes right out of the original film.
Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton play too many
characters to name -- the police, a pair of traveling salesmen, the bad
guys, a couple running an inn in Scotland, the organizers of a political
meeting, and, of course, the villain and his wife. Sometimes they play two
people at a time. Occasionally, they even pinch hit for scenery. One rolls
on his back and sticks his up legs, and then a long bolt of blue cloth
unfurls. It’s a stream in the cleft of the hills.
Just so you don’t forget this is Hitchcock, names of
his films are subtly introduced through the action. Margaret, the farmer’s
wife, warns Hannay of the police and advises him to escape via “The Rear
Window!” As Hannay flees across the Scottish Moors, the bi-plane pilot gives
the direction as North by Northwest! When Hannay and Pamela must climb a
ladder to escape pursuers, he asks, “Too high?” She replies “I get...” --
and they both finish the sentence: “Vertigo.” Escaping from two thugs, they
hide behind a waterfall represented by a shower curtain. We see them in
silhouette, his pipe pointing at her back: “Psycho.”
The suspense and the drama come to a head at the London
Palladium at a performance of Mr. Memory, who will be described by the
Detective Superintendent as “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
Charles Edwards is wonderfully smooth and awkward at
the same time. He’s the sort who was born with a pipe in his mouth, a sense
of place in the class order of things, and a complex attitude towards women.
Jennifer Ferrin moves easily from tough counter-spy Arabella, to submissive
farmer’s wife Margaret, and most comfortably to that British film standard,
Pamela, who manages to be independent and traditional at the same time.
Cliff Saunders and Arnie Burton are quite amazing in their quick changes of
costume and personality.
Director Maria Aitken stages a spy drama that is both
gripping and ridiculous. It’s a production that Alfie would have considered
a smart tribute.
“The 39 Steps.” adapted by Patrick Barlow from the
movie of Alfred Hitchcock from the novel by John Buchan. Based an original
concept by Nobby Dimon and Simon Corble. Directed by Maria Aitken. Starring
Charles Edwards (replaced by Sam Robards July 8th), Jennifer Ferrin Arnie
Burton, Cliff Saunders. Sets by Peter McKintosh. Lighting by Kevin Adams.
Costumes by Peter McKintosh.
Roundabout Theatre Co., Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th St.
Tue at 7pm; Wed- Sat at 8pm; Wed & Sat at 2pm; Sun at 3pm Running Time:
1:45. $98.50. 212-239-6200.
http://www.39stepsonbroadway.com/.
Photos by Joan Marcus.
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