The 39 Steps (Play-Type)

Wednesday night, I went to see The 39 Steps at Marietta’s Theatre in the Square, and it was great!

Aside: You may be thinking: “Wow, this girl sure sees a lot of plays. I bet she likes everything she sees. I’m not going to waste my time/money listening to and/or following her opinions.” FACT: I don’t like everything I see. Some stuff whomps. Actually, a lot of things do. So many, in fact, that I don’t have the time or space to write about them here. ALSO: Sometimes I like stuff that other people don’t, for example, I watch and enjoy kids’ movies way more than an adult woman should. So what? I own that, and I know better than to shove my strange tastes off onto other people. If I recommend something on my blog, it’s because I liked it AND I think other people will like it too.

Anyway, the play is a fast-paced farcical version of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock spy thriller in which the hero must solve a convoluted espionage plot to clear his name when he is suspected of murder. While the plot itself isn’t particularly funny, the comedy comes in when the four actors recreate the film nearly verbatim, recreating something like 150 roles—sometimes playing a variety of men, women, and children in a single scene. And, while two of the actors played a handful of main roles, the other two were hysterical, portraying literally everyone else. Seriously, Bryan Mercer and Scott Warren stole the show with their myriad of wacky characters; their rampant silliness was like watching Monty Python live!

I’m recommending this to everyone, though, because now that the rights are available, a number of local theaters will be performing it, and I can’t imagine a production of this that would not be funny (OK, maybe if it was like at your local middle school), therefore, you should find out when it’s playing in your town, then go check out it…or else!