When
The 39 Steps debuted on Broadway, it was hailed as one of the brightest new plays in years and heaped with numerous accolades (and of course, big, big awards) because of this play's ability to present more than 150 zany characters.
If you are scratching your head about
Circle Theatre's ability to cast such a large bill of talent in our region, then you are correct -- until you realize that
The 39 Steps is comprised of more than 150 characters created through the talent of just four actors.
The play has been hailed as a Hitchcockian masterpiece, tossed like a salad of fresh spy bits with a shaker of Monty Python spice. Well, that is how I described it, as I was thinking of lunch when I wrote this.
Patrick Barlow has adapted the novel of the same name by author John Buchan from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon. The result of such layers of comic flavors and twists is a night of nonstop laughs, which includes an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and, of course, the perfect ingredient for a summer night out at the theatre: some good old-fashioned romance.
The 39 Steps has all your favorite clichés, like a man with a boring life who meets a mysterious woman with a classic thick accent -- indicating that she is probably a spy. And just when you think he has finally met a romantic interest, the girl ends up dead, which then kicks off a series of events that lead to a thrilling nationwide manhunt, all from the comfort of Circle's seats.
The New York Post hailed it as “The most entertaining show on Broadway!" but locally our biggest mystery will be where to eat after (because this much laughter is like a workout when a show is this good).