The 39 Steps is a comedic and farcical adventure that follows an ordinary man thrown into the throes of a spy action thriller.
The unique thing about The 39 Steps is that it is played by a cast of four plus stage crew who make occasional appearances. Two cast members take on approximately 250 roles between them, as mentioned in the play foreword. This makes it one hell of a ride for cast, crew, and audience alike, and that was before ingenious director Rianna Hartney-Smith added her hilarious touch to it.
Tugun Theatre sees an even more outlandish production of the 39 steps brought to life, giving the audience a guaranteed night of laughs. They use the guise of things going wrong [on purpose] to elevate the humour, with prompts often repeated so set pieces can be rushed out, broken props that play into the comedy and fantastically funny costuming. One amazing example of these additions was when two cast members kept rushing a lamp post on stage every time the other two characters looked out the window. This bit was repeated, leaving the actors increasingly flustered with hats falling off, arms flying everywhere, and the audience laughing.
Some other great choices for staging were using a plunger and a music stand to create a ‘car’. The ridiculousness of the props enhanced the jokes but still made them practical for the actors to use. All of these additions give the overall feeling of a play in a state of mania, in the best possible way.
Special commendations need to be made to Jack Lovett and Neil Watson, who take on the daunting task of having multiple characters. Jack Lovett gives the most energetic and exuberant performance, absolutely nailing the physicality of each of his roles. He should be applauded for his effort and commitment, most notably his cameo as an old man who fell many, many times from his seat and eventually off the stage. Jack absolutely sold this, and I believe he accidentally [or maybe on purpose] copped his own cane to the head multiple times in committing to this gag.
Neil Watson provides an equally entertaining performance, cross dressing multiple times but most notably giving a long and sultry kiss to finish out the play that really showed his dedication to the comedy of his many roles. Jon Turley does a fantastic job as Richard Hannay, playing a consistent and likable do-gooder who is really adept at escaping out windows.
Samantha McClurg also competently traverses the stage and gives us the right amount of hysteria in her roles as Anabella and Pamela. Finally, the dedicated stage crew went the extra mile, donning costume pieces and performing dance numbers during set changes to keep the pacing and laughs flowing.
This production was an absolute delight, and the whole cast and crew were clearly putting their passion into this performance. From using the entire venue and stage, to the elaborate lighting choreography you can feel the respect and hard work put into this play .Tugun Theatre and all involved should be congratulated on a riveting and hilarious production.
Tugun Theatres The 39 Steps runs from November 14th – November 30. To book tickets, please visit https://www.tuguntheatre.org/the-39-steps
Evening Shows:
November 14th – 30th
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – 7:30PM
Matinee Shows:
November 16th & 23rd
Saturday – 2:00PM
This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.
